Net Neutrality – the Grassroots Campaign Gathers Momentum

If you're passionate about keeping the Internet open and accessible and a place where commerce and innovation flourish, then you know about the ongoing debate on Net Neutrality (we’ve also blogged about it before). Right now, the telephone and cable companies, who control over 95% of the Internet, are trying to use their enormous political muscle to change the way the Internet works. If they succeed, ordinary users may find themselves paying much higher costs and have far fewer choices in the types of online content they can access.

Fortunately, a grassroots movement against these maneuvers has been under way for some time, showing that the power belongs with Internet users, not the big phone and cable companies. It's making the collective voice of millions of netizens heard in the corridors of power. Sites like itsournet.org are a great resource for people to find out how they can contact their Senator or Representative to express their opinion about keeping the Internet open and accessible.

eBay's Community is in the thick of this grassroots campaign. Earlier this summer, when Meg Whitman, eBay's President and CEO, wrote a personal letter to a large number of eBay's top sellers and active users, urging them to write their elected officials in Washington, it resulted in more than 300,000 letters from our members!

This week Meg is reaching out again to even more members of our vast Community. Look for an email from Meg this week. It will also appear in your My Messages (within My eBay). 

I've seen a preview of Meg's email - it makes no bones about the grim scenario that could be likely if the telephone and cable companies have their way, and asks members to write to their representatives in Congress before it's too late. Meg's warning about the attempt to divide the Internet into two tiers is starkly compelling:

"The bottom tier -- the slow lane -- would be what is left for everyone else. If the fast lane is the information 'super-highway,' the slow lane will operate more like a dirt road.

Today's Internet is an incredible open marketplace for goods, information and ideas. We can't give that up. A two lane system will restrict innovation because start-ups and small companies -- the companies that can't afford the high fees -- will be unable to succeed, and we'll lose out on the jobs, creativity and inspiration that come with them."

Network neutrality is just one area of legislation where eBay's Government Relations team is working to make our Community's voice and viewpoints heard in the Federal and State legislatures. You can find more information about the GR team's other efforts at the Government Relations page.