Keep the Internet Open to Competition

Tired of online petitions? Me too. Too bad. Sign this one:

Consumers Union:: "Giant companies, like AT&T and Verizon, that offer high-speed Internet service want the right to decide what web sites, services, and applications you can get on the Internet. Why? Because they can. A few big telephone and cable companies own the lines that connect you to the Internet. That gives them the ability to control whether and how fast you can get to what you want on the Web and to favor their own services, like forcing you to buy their e-mail applications over those of their competitors. For example, if they want, they could slow your access to e-Bay while speeding up service to their own auction site.

Worse, on top of charging you for Internet service, they also want to charge Internet companies, like Google or Yahoo, for the right to send you information and services at the increasingly faster speeds available on the Net. That means only Internet companies that can afford to pay will survive. So much for the Internet as we’ve known it."