Protect Net Neutrality - Drop-In at Rep. Yoder's Office
Details
Drop-in at Rep. Kevin Yoder's office to discuss net neutrality. (https://act.demandprogress.org/event/team-internet/999/signup/?akid=&zip=)
Location: Rep. Kevin Yoder’s office
Address: 7325 W 79th St, Overland Park, KS 66204
Date and time: Thursday, October 5, 9:30 AM
Directions: Yoder's office is in Downtown OP
Join other Team Internet members to discuss the importance of strong net neutrality protections!
What is Net Neutrality you may ask?
Net neutrality is the principle that the company that connects you to the internet does not get to control what you do on the internet (source: Public Knowledge.org)
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments regulating the Internet must treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminating or charging differentially by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication (source: Wikipedia.org)
The organiser for this event would like us to hand staff short letters that they could share with Congressman Yoder instead of simply relaying to him that we were there.
Here are some discussion points for your letters:
• companies or the wealthy should not be able to buy access to better internet, something average people may not be able to afford
• supporters of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to eliminate net neutrality in the US include At&T, Comcast, Verizon...notice a trend?
• the internet has had net neutrality since its inception and there hasn't been an issue with "stifled innovation" (Apple's Wozniak supports net neutrality)
• internet service providers could choose to block sites for their consumers, essentially stifling public access to information
Here are some reputable sources speaking to the importance of net neutrality:
From the Center for Democracy and Technology:
https://cdt.org/blog/rules-of-the-road-net-neutralitys-bright-line-protections/
From Atlassian, a software development company:
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/why-net-neutrality-is-so-important
Don't take our word for it, either: aggregated info site for the Net Neutrality battle (includes a John Oliver bit): https://www.battleforthenet.com/
*You are RSVP-ing to a drop-in meeting. This means you and others are stopping by the office to share your feelings on the importance of Net Neutrality and a free and open internet. Office staff will not necessarily be expecting you -- but this is fine, and you should insist on making known your concerns about net neutrality.