News article on House subcommittee vote: http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-6057789.html Armey's earlier essay: http://www.freedomworks.org/informed/issues_template.php?issue_id=2541 Action alert: http://www.rallycongress.com/freedomworks/petition.php?action_id=111 Stop Kelo-style Approach to Telecom Reform -- Vote Expected This Week! Dear Declan, FreedomWorks has learned that the House Energy and Commerce Committee is moving forward with telecom reform legislation. But while the latest draft bill does take some encouraging steps in the right direction, there is something now in the bill called "net neutrality" that should alarm true free-market conservatives. The proponents of net neutrality have some very nice sound bites and flowery talking points that would lead you to believe that it?s about keeping the Internet free?I assure you nothing could be further from the truth. What net neutrality really does is allow the government to run all over basic property rights in classic, Kelo fashion. It expands regulation in the telecommunications arena and allows the government to dictate to businesses how they offer service. For example, a cable or a phone company offering Internet service may seek to offer higher capacity or secure services commercially to Internet content companies over the networks the cable or phone company has built and owns. This is fair and well within the company's rights to run its business how it sees fit. And it provides more choices for consumers. The government has no more right to tell a cable or phone company how to manage the pipes that offer their clients Internet service than they do to tell Wal-Mart how to stock their lawn and garden department! Nevertheless, if the latest draft legislation remains unchanged, net neutrality will become a fixture of any telecom reform to come out of Congress this year. As conservatives that value the fundamental rights to private property envisioned by the Founding Fathers, we can?t allow Congress to take us further down the "Kelo Road." Use FreedomWorks' automatic email system to send an urgent message to those in the U.S. House of Representatives that can most directly influence this debate and stop net neutrality provisions from moving forward. While the actual drafting of this legislation is still in the works, you can take action and help influence its outcome. And as a vote is expected this week, it's critical that these legislators hear from you NOW! Click here to TAKE ACTION! Sincerely, Dick Armey FreedomWorks _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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