Stop AT&T From Wrecking the Web!

AT&T and other telecom carriers want to control the Internet, by controlling the flow of information using a technique called "paid prioritization".

"Ensuring that operators do not engage in paid prioritization is fundamental to ensuring that the Internet continues to operate as an open, interconnected platform for commerce, speech, and innovation."

"Paid prioritization is a financial arrangement where a third-party content owner can pay an ISP to 'cut to the front of the line' at congested nodes, or where an ISP engages in 'vertical prioritization' by favoring its own content."

"Paid prioritization is the antithesis to openness, and any regulatory framework that does not presume that such arrangements are harmful to consumers and competition is not real Net Neutrality -- it's fake Net Neutrality trying to pass as protections that will actually preserve the open Internet."

"A level playing field for Internet transport. It refers to the absence of restrictions or priorities placed on the type of content carried over the Internet by the carriers and ISPs that run the major backbones. It states that all traffic be treated equally; that packets are delivered on a first-come, first-served basis regardless from where they originated or to where they are destined."

A more detailed explanation:

"Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and the modes of communication allowed."

"The principle states that if a given user pays for a certain level of Internet access, and another user pays for the same level of access, then the two users should be able to connect to each other at the subscribed level of access."

"Though the term did not enter popular use until several years later, since the early 2000s advocates of net neutrality and associated rules have raised concerns about the ability of broadband providers to use their last mile infrastructure to block Internet applications and content (e.g., websites, services, protocols), particularly those of competitors."

"Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms."

One of AT&T policy makers, a VP, has refered to supporters of net neutrality as members of the "Church of Extreme Net Neutrality" and dismisses their views as "dogma". Since this "opinion" was presented before Congress during testimony, we can assume this person speaks for the management of AT&T. Apparently AT&T's current tactic is to paint the opposition as religious wackos, just because they want a fair Internet.

AT&T's market cap is over $160 billion and it makes over $120 billion in revenue! -- Yahoo Finance

"AT&T Inc. is the largest provider of fixed telephony in the United States, and also provides broadband and subscription television services. AT&T is the second largest provider of mobile telephony service in the United States, with over 92.8 million wireless customers, just behind Verizon Wireless' 93.2 million, and more than 210 million total customers."

"As of 2010[update], AT&T is the 7th largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the 3rd largest non-oil company in the US (Behind Walmart and Bank of America). In 2010, Forbes listed AT&T as the 13th largest company in the world and the 8th largest non-oil company in the world, the largest company in the world not associated with banking or oil, as well as the world's largest provider of telecommunication."

"According to a lawsuit filed against other telecommunications companies for violating customer privacy, AT&T began preparing facilities for the NSA to monitor "phone call information and Internet traffic" seven months before 9/11."

You can spread the word to your friends and family. You can send an email to your congressman and the FCC. Also, you can help protect the First Amendment by joining the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and help protect your rights online by joining the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Save The Internet: Frequently Asked Questions @ Save The Internet Save The Internet at MoveOn.org Writers Guild of America East: Tell the FCC to Save the Internet Internet Freedom Coalition Stop the Cap! Further Reading: Lawsuit alleges AT&T overbills for iPhone, iPad data AT&T Misleads FCC about 'Paid Prioritization' on the Internet AT&T Defends Paid Prioritization Of Web Traffic AT&T writes FCC in favor of paid prioritization AT&T: no one can stop our "paid prioritization" AT&T's Masquerade over Paid Discrimination Sorry AT&T, Title II Would Not "Require" Paid Prioritization Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Articles on Net Neutrality ACLU Articles on Free Speech and Net Neutrality The corporate deal to control your Internet How Comcast, AT&T and Big Telecoms Threaten the Reach of Progressive Artists OTI Files Response to AT&T's Mischaracterization of Paid Prioritization on the Internet Just say no to fake Net neutrality Google's Stand on Net Neutrality

• Stop ATT From Taking Your Web - Robert Reich (May 12, 2006) -- Yes, AT&T has been trying to wreck the Web for years!

Frank Herbert (a critically acclaimed and commercially successful, American, science fiction author) said, "He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing". The opposite is also true, "He who can control a thing, can destroy a thing". Do we want companies like AT&T to control the Internet?

Addendum

AT&T offers cloud based services called TopLineISV, Synaptic Hosting, Synaptic Compute, Synaptic Platform and Synaptic Storage. Protesting their policies on TopLineISV.com, SynapticHosting.com, SynapticCompute.com, SynapticPlatform.com and SynapticStorage.com is intended to show those looking for AT&T's cloud based services what an awful anti-consumer version of Net Neutrality AT&T believes in and hopefully it will cause some potential customers to choose another company like the alternative cloud based services listed next.

• Amazon.com's S3
• IBM Cloud Computing
• RackSpace Cloud
• SAP Business ByDesign

No. First of all, AT&T never trademarked the terms "TopLineISV", "Synaptic Hosting", "Synaptic Compute", "Synaptic Platform" or "Synaptic Storage". (Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) Second, this website is protected as free speech under the First Amendment, so trademark law does not apply. "What does the First Amendment protect?" is an excellent resource on this topic.

Send an email to This email address is the only contact point for this website. Contact coming from any other source, including phone or snail mail, will be ignored.

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