ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline 
Volume 15, Number 60
Date: June 8, 2006

In This Issue: IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED on Network Neutrality amendment in H.R. 5252 -- the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE).

ACTION NEEDED:
TODAY, ALL library advocates are asked to take immediate action and call, fax, or email their members of the U.S. House of Representatives AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, as Congress is getting set to vote TOMORROW on an important network neutrality amendment to H.R. 5252.

Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Jay Inslee (D-WA) will be allowed to introduce their amendment on network neutrality to H.R. 5252 when the bill comes to debate and vote on the House floor tomorrow.  H.R. 5252, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE), is a complex bill that seeks to "reform" the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  The bill currently has inadequate language on network neutrality providing only a "wait and see" approach to the neutrality issues. It is critical that the "Markey/Boucher/Eshoo/Inslee" amendment be passed.

ALA asks ALL library advocates to contact their respective House members and urge them to vote YES on the Markey... amendment. Capitol Switchboard number is: 202-224-3121 - or visit http://www.onlineadvocacy.net/ to email your Member of Congress.

MESSAGE:
Network neutrality legislation is civil rights for the Internet. Telephone, cable and ISPs should not be able to create fast lanes for wealthy or preferred content providers while others are put in slower lanes.  Some content providers could receive preferential access to consumers and library users while denying or slowing down access to other sources of information, especially for public, school, and academic library services or other educational and nonprofit uses. We must assure that all providers and users of information on the Internet have equal access.  This is especially important to library users, since our libraries are both collectors, distributors, aggregators and creators of information and Internet content of all types.

BACKGROUND:
ALA supports the concept of network neutrality that keeps an open and unregulated Internet where all information providers have equal access to distribute their content and products via the Internet. Passing the Markey net neutrality amendment would prohibit ISPs, telephone and cable companies from creating a tiered system giving preference to some information providers who are willing and able to pay more while "lesser" providers, who cannot pay higher fees for uploading content, would be relegated to slower lanes of the Internet.  While subscribers pay different rates for DSL vs. T-1 lines, all are able to access the Internet comparably without ISPs serving as gatekeepers for the content going out to the Internet.  In order to keep  diverse and rich courses of information on the Internet, content contributors must not be discriminated against nor have to pay more to assure access.

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ALA Washington Office, 1615 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., First Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009-2520; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff ; Contact the Washington Office: alawash@alawash.org ; Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Don Essex, Melanie Anderson, Erin Haggerty, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Carrie Lowe, Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. Andrew Bridges, Communications Specialist. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.