It's being pushed by the big communication corporations and could be decided in the next couple of months.

They want to turn the net into a profit machine with restricted access for people.

If passed, it will allow all mass media to become more restricted.

It would eliminate "Net Neutrality" and allow censorship of content on the web.

It would reduce diversity on the net.

Help kill the COPE Act.

Spread the word - send this link on to others.

Tell your representatives

To find out how to contact your representative, go to:

http://www.house.gov

Just enter your zip+4 - you will be given their name and a link to their website with complete contact information. If you need help finding your zip+4, go to:

http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

To get contact info for your senators, go to:

http://www.senate.gov/general/

contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Email is fine - fax or phone is better.

Tell them to oppose the COPE Act, H.R. 5252

Tell them to support The Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006, H.R.5417

Tell them that H.R.5417 is currently the only bill being considered with adequate neutrality language

Tell them that net neutrality must be an enforceable condition of the internet

Tell them that without it, it would allow corporations to limit free speech, diversity of opinion and have a negative effect on democracy

Read on for more details:

The COPE Act is a bill currently in congress that will limit free speech on the net.

In order to understand the implications of this bill, first keep in mind that in the not-too-distant-future, all media could potentially be carried on the internet - TV, radio, music, news, telephone.

The COPE Act is a bill in Congress now -- the Communications Opportunity Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006, HR 5252, or the COPE Act for short -- which marks a dismal overhaul to federal laws concerning media, internet, and telephones in the United States. The revision affects both local video and the internet, and could well harm the future of local video and the internet, along with the rest of the media in America. Read on for more details.

It's being pushed by the big communication corporations and could be decided in the next couple of months.

The biggest advocates for this revision are the major telecommunications companies in the U.S., and their allies in Congress, which stand to make the most money and power from the COPE Act. Those companies (thanks to corporate mergers) are growing in power and shrinking in number, and include AT&T (the former SBC), Sprint, Verizon, and Bellsouth (which is in talks to merge with AT&T). How soon could the COPE Act become law? As soon as sometime in the summer of 2006, so the time is now to learn about this bill, its effects, and take actions to stop it.

They want to turn the net into a profit machine with restricted access for people.

Basically, Big Telecom wants to bring to the internet and to digital video the same kind of rampant commercialism and corporate control and consolidation that we've seen in other sectors of our media. The most notorious example of this kind of change is commercial radio, which wasn't exactly perfect before the 1996 Telecommunication Act, but which became far worse after the 1996 Act became law and made rampant legal changes which impacted the quality of radio.

If passed, it will allow all mass media to become more restricted

You can think of the future of the internet landscape Big Telecom wants in terms of two streets. One street is a newly-paved ten-lane superhighway with very high speed limits and tolls which require those who want access to have to pay. The other street would be a single-lane dirt road which would be free but, since there are more people who can't pay the increasing toll than those who can, would be endlessly clogged and face other technical delays. You can expect many people who would otherwise contribute on the internet would be discouraged from doing so, given such systemic delays -- and make the internet a poorer place as a result.

And it's not just the internet that would be affected. Our entire media landscape -- TV, radio, telephone, and other media yet to come -- is being increasingly digitized, which means all of the media will be relying on an internet infrastructure for wide distribution, and all of our media will likely be impacted as well.

It would allow censorship of content on the web and eliminate "Net Neutrality".

What Is Net Neutrality?

Free Press defines the term as follows: "Network neutrality is a voluntary but guiding principle of the Internet which ensures that all users are entitled to access content and services or run applications and devices of their choice. Net neutrality fosters open access and innovation among service providers, while preserving the independence and accessibility of the World Wide Web. The current abundance of online content is the offspring of net neutrality. Under network neutrality, consumers enjoy limitless choices. Without safeguards against corporate meddling, the Internet's open road to innovation will become a closed highway for big media and their self-selected allies."

In short, Net Neutrality means those that carry the information have no say over the content. Examples of communication systems with Net Neutrality in place are the internet (in its current state), telephones and public access tv. Examples of those without it are broadcast television and FM radio.

You can also view this video on Net Neutrality.

The COPE Act, as it presently stands, would do two main things:

(1) It would place violation of non-discrimination principles of "controversial" or unprofitable internet content under the enforcement jurisdiction of the Federal Communication Commission.

The COPE Act would allow the FCC to enforce neutrality, however, the FCC would not be required to do so. The FCC has said that it would abide by neutrality principles, but the FCC has historically been more a servant of Big Media rather than an angel of the public interest (just look to broadcast TV as an example). Hence, this could well mean that Big Telecom could be allowed to discriminate against internet content that they couldn't in the past.

(2) It would allow a single national video franchise precedent -- first going for telecom companies (remember: video by telephone connections are increasingly widespread). Then other industries get the same privileges. That is, instead of having to negotiate for video (and funds) like cable does on a city-by-city basis, it would allow industries to negotiate once. This would give telecom companies (and other media companies they merge with) the ability to prioritize content on a national scale over more local content.

It would reduce diversity on the net.

Expect far higher costs for using the internet -- not just for accessing internet content, but also for providing internet content.

These costs, and the exile of internet contributors to the slow-and-clogged road, would lead to a dropoff in the range of content on the internet.

This would be dismal for many alternative, progressive and independent media projects. Everything from Indymedia to Wikipedia to Youtube to the many progressive blogs to the assortment of peer-to-peer online music providers -- could well all disappear in the face of skyrocketing costs.

What internet and media content would remain would become ever-increasingly commercialized, and bled of its "controversial" and independent content.

Help kill the COPE Act.

What can be done? For the moment, it's very simple: Stop the COPE Act from proceeding any further. Kill the bill.

We should say that some people have been advocating making changes to the bill, but doing that isn't very likely given the current chokehold that corporate-friendly Republicans have on Congress. Barring a dramatic (and probably unlikely) overhaul of the bill, the appropriate response would be to stop the COPE Act in its current form.

Spread the word.

Send this link (http://www.storiesonvideo.com/cope.html) on to others. Spread the word among people you know -- via email, over the web, in person, you name it. This has been the most vital and most powerful tool involved in activist successes in recent years.

Encourage your resident media outlets -- be it independent, alternative, or even corporate -- to cover the issue and how it matters.

Join in the campaigns already underway to support the future of the internet. For example:

http://www.savetheinternet.com

http://www.netfreedomnow.org

http://www.commoncause.org/NetNeutrailty

Learn more about the issues from these links:

Salon.com, Global Justice, Chicago Media Action, Free Press, Common Cause, Indymedia, Video on Net Neutrality

Tell your representatives.

Contact your members of Congress -- both in the House and in the Senate -- and encourage them to oppose the COPE Act, (Communications Opportunity Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006, H.R. 5252 - also called "The Barton Bill") . This only takes a minute and can really have an effect. They hear from the corporate lobbys all the time. Let them hear from us.

To find out how to contact your representative, go to: http://www.house.gov. It will ask you for your zip+4 and you will be given their name and a link to their website which will have complete contact information. If you need help finding your zip+4, go to: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp

To get contact info for your senators, go to: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Send your message via email, phone or even fax. Email is the easiest to do, but faxes and phone calls probably get more attention. Letters are good, but their delivery can get delayed because of security issues.

Tell them whatever it is you feel is important. If you're not sure, here are some suggestions of what to say: you can elaborate about how you use the internet and personally benefit from it, and that the COPE Act would very likely restrict those benefits. Tell them that the Network Neutrality provisions of the bill are insufficient, that neutrality must be federally mandated. Tell them to support The Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006, H.R. 5417, the only bill currently being considered that has adequate network neutrality language. You can also talk about how the COPE Act would limit free speech and diversity of opinion and have a negative effect on democracy in general.

In the words of Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who introduced H.R. 5417: "The next hurdle for Net Neutrality is whether we will have a full vote on the House floor. If you care about the freedom that Net Neutrality protects, contact your Member of Congress and ask that H.R. 5417 be scheduled to come before the full House of Representatives as either a separate bill or an amendment. Urge them to vote for Net Neutrality protection!"

Again, for more info:

SaveTheInternet.com • Net Freedom Now • Free Press • Center for Digital Democracy

Salon.com • Video on Net Neutrality • Common Cause

Public Knowledge • Democracy Now! • Global Justice • Chicago Media Action

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note on the creators of this web page:

My name is Fred. I made this page based on information provided by a friend, Mitchell, who is knowledgeable in such matters. I am a designer, videographer and visual artist. I don't represent any organization or group - I'm just a concerned citizen. If you have suggestions for additions or changes, or want to offer any feedback on the page, you may email me. For more information on me, you can visit my personal site. Iif you have questions concerning the issues of the Cope Act or net neutrality, you may email Mitchell or visit his personal site.

Last updated 5/30/06

No rights reserved - copy with impunity.