If you spend any time on the Internet, you’ve likely run across some form of protest against SOPA and/or PROTECT IP, bills before Congress that supporters claim are necessary to protect copyrights and opponents say will destroy the Internet as we know it.     [FULL  STORY]

A report in The New York Times suggests that the “Super Committee” in Congress—which has the power to fast-track it’s recommendations to reduce the deficit—is close to backing mandatory cuts to Social Security instead of tax increases for the richest one percent.

No way we can let this happen. This is a rotten deal that we have to stop.

Send a message that cuts to Social Security come with hell to pay from voters.  Click on this link

It’s not a theoretical question. Verizon Wireless and other mobile carriers, with Google’s help, are blocking Android applications they don’t like from the Android Market.

All of these companies are harming innovation and openness. But Verizon’s actions are actually illegal. That’s why we filed a complaint with the FCC, calling out Verizon for blatantly breaking the FCC’s “open access” rules by blocking apps that can be used on its 4G network.

Click here to urge the FCC to investigate Verizon’s illegal app blocking.

Two years ago, the FCC licensed Verizon Wireless to use a valuable chunk of the public airwaves — or spectrum — for its 4G data service. Thanks to Free Press’ efforts, this spectrum came with a set of “open access” conditions: Verizon could not block any devices or applications from connecting to its new 4G network.

Then, last month, tech blogs reported that several carriers, including Verizon, asked Google to remove wireless tethering applications — which turn smartphones into Wi-Fi hotspots — from Google’s open Android Market, effectively blocking them from being used on all networks, including 4G.

Verizon was the only carrier with a legal requirement to keep its 4G network open — but it ignored the FCC’s rule. If Verizon is allowed to ignore the law, what’s to stop it from blocking other applications it doesn’t like?

Open networks are the key to our mobile future:
Urge the FCC to hold Verizon accountable for breaking the law.

The carriers’ rationale for blocking tethering apps is clear enough — they want to charge their customers up to $30/month to do what these apps do for free.

But mobile users already pay high rates for mobile data plans. Whether these plans are unlimited or capped, the type of applications and data we use — or the device we use to access them — shouldn’t matter.

In the next few years, more and more of our media will flow over 4G networks. As we experience this huge technological shift, we need to protect consumers from carrier abuse — lest Verizon and its friends become emboldened to take advantage of us even more.

Take action now to put a stop to Verizon’s mobile app blocking. We can’t allow it to get away with breaking the law.

Thanks,

Josh Levy
Online Campaign Manager
Free Press
SavetheInternet.com

P.S. For more information, read the full text of the complaint we filed with the FCC (PDF).

WARNING:  EXTREME GRAPHIC CONTENT.

FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker is leaving the FCC to become a lobbyist for Comcast – just four months after she voted to approve the Comcast-NBC merger.¹

This is just the latest – but perhaps most blatant — example of so-called “public servants” cashing in on companies they are supposed to be regulating. But Baker’s jump to Comcast is particularly egregious. As recently as March, the commissioner was giving speeches complaining that the Comcast-NBC deal “took too long.”

And you wonder why the American people are disgusted with Washington.

Stop the Revolving Door: Demand Congress Investigate Baker’s Conflict of Interest

Congress is already concerned about how the FCC conducts itself. Rep. Darrell Issa, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been making a lot of noise recently about alleged ethical violations at the agency. By signing this letter to Congressman Issa, you’re urging him to launch an investigation of Commissioner Baker’s seemingly blatant conflict of interest.

Outside of Washington, people of every political stripe have expressed near unanimous contempt for a system of government that favors powerful corporations at the expense of the many. Sadly, the complete capture of government by industry barely raises an eyebrow inside the Beltway anymore. That’s why Congress needs to hear from you.

Urge Congress to Investigate this Conflict of Interest at the FCC

The revolving door at the FCC erodes any prospect for common-sense public policy — such as strong Net Neutrality rules or a rigorous review of mega-deals like AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile.

Unless we speak out now and demand an investigation, business as usual in Washington will undermine our media system and endanger our democracy.

Thank you for taking action,

Craig Aaron
President and CEO
Free Press Action Fund
www.freepress.net

* Why a constitutional amendment is the best way to defend our democracy from an all-out assault by corporations motivated solely by an unquenchable thirst for profits.

Now, Free Press has discovered that an American company — Boeing-owned Narus of Sunnyvale, CA — has sold Egypt “Deep Packet Inspection” (DPI) equipment that can be used to help the regime track, target and crush political dissent over the Internet and mobile phones.

The power to control the Internet and the resulting harm to democracy are so disturbing that the threshold for using DPI must be very high. That’s why, before DPI becomes more widely used around the world and at home, the U.S. government must establish clear and legitimate criteria for preventing the use of such surveillance and control technology.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Wherever you live, the Comcast-NBC merger is a disaster.

Letting one company control the pipes and the content that flows over those pipes is a formula for abuse. Comcast-NBC could soon hike up rates, take away your favorite channels or even stop you from watching your favorite shows online. Comcast has already targeted Netflix and other companies that compete with its video and Internet offerings.

The merger lays waste to then-candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 promise, when he said, “I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group. I strongly believe that all citizens should be able to receive information from the broadest range of sources.”

We at Free Press believe that, too. But unlike the president and his FCC chairman, we’re not caving to corporate pressure. Free Press is working with our allies and activists to fight for more open, democratic and diverse media.

Here’s how you can help:

1. First, let Washington know that there are consequences to blessing this bad deal. You can tell everyone that this merger is a disaster by Tweeting about it, spreading the word via Facebook, and sharing this e-mail with others.

2. Next, join our national network of local Comcast watchdogs. Sign this pledge to protect your community against future Comcast abuses, and we’ll connect you to a growing network of activists in your area and beyond.

3. Finally, support the Free Press Action Fund so we can mobilize a broad coalition to stem the tide of new media mergers sure to follow in the wake of Comcast-NBC.

Today’s deal, combined with the FCC’s recent loophole-ridden, fake “Net Neutrality” rule, sets the stage for Comcast to turn the Internet into something that looks like cable TV. This administration has a long list of weak compromises to corporate lobbyists during its first two years. But today’s merger is particularly alarming.

You might be saying, “I’m not a Comcast customer, so I’m not worried.” But Comcast will jack up the prices that other cable and online distributors pay for NBC content, and you’ll pay higher prices — we promise.

You might be saying, “I can just get a new Internet provider if I don’t like it.” But there’s almost no broadband competition. And as TV, radio, phone and other services increasingly become Internet-based, cable will be the only connection that’s fast enough to deliver high-quality media and services to most Americans.

You might be saying, “Why should I care about a business deal between two giant companies?” But this merger is certain to be the first domino to fall in a series of mega-media mergers. The FCC’s blessing of Comcast-NBC will embolden companies like AT&T or Verizon to try to gobble up content providers like Disney and CBS, creating a new era of media consolidation where even fewer companies control the content you watch and all the ways you watch it.

The Comcast-NBC merger is truly catastrophic for the public, and for the future of media, technology and democracy.

We can’t let a few corporate giants control the flow of information in America. It’s time to get mad, but it’s also time to get involved.

Thank you,

Josh Silver
President and CEO
Free Press
www.freepress.net