Pro Net Neutrality Documents Internet neutrality must be maintained By John Nichols The Capital Times September 14, 2006 Article Link Joe Wineke, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, writes a thoughtful letter taking this columnist to task for urging members of Wisconsin's House and Senate to defend the First Amendment of the Internet: the principle of Net neutrality. Wineke argues that it is not necessary to protect the ability of citizens to have equal access to all sites on the Web. Instead, he urges support for a telecommunications-industry sponsored scheme that would allow cable and telephone companies to create a two-tier Internet - with an "information superhighway" to Web sites that pay a hefty fee to the providers and a dirt road for those that cannot do so. On the Web that the telecommunications conglomerates want to colonize for their own convenience and profits, the average Internet user could get to Wal-Mart's site in an instant but would have a hard time getting to WalMart Watch's site. That's not the Internet that I want, and it's not the Internet that progressive Democrats want. Recalling the damage done to diversity, competition and localism by the congressional endorsement of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in June: "I see a parallel situation potentially developing if we allow Internet access providers to create another pay-for-play system and become de facto gatekeepers to the Internet. Without a non-discrimination requirement," Feingold said of Net neutrality, "certain Web sites on the Internet could gain an unfair advantage. ... Moreover, without protections, Internet users could have fewer choices as only those content providers who could afford to pay the corporate toll-keepers would be able to offer a competitive level of service. We need to make sure that the Internet retains its crucial role as an open forum for the free exchange and dissemination of information." Feingold explained that, "I support the core Net neutrality proposals I have seen that allow for this legitimate management of the network, while preserving the basic principle of equal access to the Internet." U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has been even blunter in her defenses of Net neutrality. When the House debated the future of the Internet earlier this year, she was an enthusiastic supporter of an amendment proposed by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., to specifically define what network neutrality means and give it the force of law. Says Baldwin, "I have heard from many Wisconsinites regarding concerns that network operators may violate the principle of network neutrality, which ensures that the Internet remains open to all and guarantees everyone equal access. I realize the important role the openness of the Internet has played in fueling remarkable innovation and the free flow of ideas and expression. I believe the federal government must continue to play a critical role in safeguarding the open and non-discriminatory nature of the Internet." Wineke's decision to split with progressive Democrats on the issue of Net neutrality does not entirely isolate the state party chair from his fellow partisans. Mike McCurry, who served as press secretary to President Bill Clinton from 1995 until 1998, has hired out to the telecommunications lobby and is pushing hard for the plan Wineke favors.