2010-09-29 Why is Net Neutrality advocate Free Press MIA?

Free Press has been working hard to position itself as the champions of Net Neutrality and Internet freedom. Even before Google and Verizon announced the terms of their legislative proposal, Free Press agents were all over the liberal media lamenting the "End of the Internet as we know it" and condemning Google for turning to the dark side.

They were here at the Daily Kos, the Hunfington Post, Democratic Now, really all over the place. According to them, they convinced more than 300,000 people to sign the "Google: Don't Be Evil" petition and express support for a FCC takeover of the Internet.

Yesterday, my dairy, Obama's Internet Coup d'état, was about President Obama's proposed Internet regime. You would think that a group with a website named SaveTheInternet.com and a staff of 37 people would be all over this story, but so far they have been silent.

Monday, I talked to Jenn Ettinger of Free Press. I called her because she had just written a piece last Thursday on their website Activists Tell FCC: 'Don’t Waffle on Net Neutrality!' about a SaveTheInternet.com breakfast they served to the FCC Commissioners. At that time she said she hadn't heard of the Obama proposals on Internet wiretapping and would have to talk to their policy people to determine their position.

Today I see she has a new piece on their website, Free Press Asks FCC to Crack Down on Fake News, but nothing on these latest Obama proposals. It would seem that Free Press is all about condemning Google and begging the FCC to do stuff. So, Yes, I mean this to be a very public calling out of Free Press.

WHAT IS THE FREE PRESS POSITION ON OBAMA'S DEMANDS FOR THE ABILITY MONITOR ALL INTERNET TRAFFIC? YOU HAVE RECENTLY MADE A BIG SHOW OUT OF NET NEUTRALITY. YOUR SILENCE ON THIS IS NOT AN OPTION.

After all, even if Free Press is only interested in Net Neutrality and is only opposed to tiered web pricing, and doesn't care about government spying and privacy, they still should be speaking out against this proposal. The gov't is asking that all Internet traffic be copied to them. They expect protected communications to be unencrypted for them. This will already more than double the Internet workload and this will slow down service for everyone. They expect to see my email before I do! If that isn't a violation of Net Neutrality, I don't know what is?

If Free Press is opposed to tiered web pricing, of the type they falsely accused Google and Verizon of making a deal on, where a company like Google can pay for preferential treatment for it's data, they must doubly be opposed to a tiered web where the gov't gets preferential treatment for our data, and we pay extra for it!

How can a group that calls itself Free Press remain silent in the face of such an extreme attack on the Internet as we now enjoy it?

At least one good thing did come out of the Google, Don't Be Evil campaign: