Save the Internet — days left!‏

[animalwelfareeduc]

From Luis Morago of Avaaz;

   

        Dear friends across Europe,

The richest 1% is using every trick in the book to control what we all see and do online.

Last week a gang of multinationals including Deutsche Telekom, Nokia, and Vodafone launched a desperate effort to kill the free and open Internet we all rely on.

If they succeed, they will create ‘fast lanes’ for the big Internet companies who can pay, while condemning independent media, start-ups, and citizen movements like Avaaz to a 'slow lane'. But if an unprecedented number of us act in the next few days, we can meet this new attack and help secure strong Internet protections in Europe.

A public comment period is running right now -- let's flood it with hundreds of thousands of messages calling on EU regulators to close all loopholes that threaten to ruin the promise of a democratic, free Internet. Send a message now and tell everyone -- we have just days left: 

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet_eu_loc_2016/?bKIUmbb&v=79085&cl=10370726913&_checksum=4aad5e99b162e4d0583aec3f2daa5dfb8c90f2d58047471c4688711155f4c9f6

The principle of Net Neutrality is what makes the Internet unique and empowering -- the recognition that everyone, from the richest corporations to any ordinary citizen, should be free to access all content and applications equally. Our tenacious campaigning over the last years has helped translate this principle into strong regulations in the US, India, and Brazil.

And in 2014 Avaaz helped win a crucial first fight in Europe, pushing the EU Parliament to adopt ambitious legislation. But now, EU regulators must translate these rules into specific guidelines, and they are under enormous pressure to allow loopholes that would give ISPs the right to carve up the web and control what we see, by slowing down or charging for sites that don't pay.

Web giants are lobbying hard for an Internet for the rich. And without a massive response from citizens, they could win, and put our community’s ability to work at risk. This affects us all, and we don’t have any time to lose. We have done this before, so click below to send a message now and tell everyone:  

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet_eu_loc_2016/?bKIUmbb&v=79085&cl=10370726913&_checksum=4aad5e99b162e4d0583aec3f2daa5dfb8c90f2d58047471c4688711155f4c9f6

Every justice movement across the globe uses the Internet to organize. Letting corporations control the throttle threatens all of our free speech, our innovation and our organising. This is our chance to protect it in a huge way.

With hope and determination,

Luis, Luca, Christoph, Marigona, Daniel and the entire Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Major telecoms promise 5G networks if EU cripples net neutrality (The Verge)
http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/10/12139700/telecom-companies-5g-service-european-union-net-neutrality

EU’s forthcoming Net Neutrality rules Leaked: Here’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Netzpolitik)
https://netzpolitik.org/2016/leak-eus-forthcoming-net-neutrality-rules-heres-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Official BEREC consultation information
http://berec.europa.eu/eng/news_consultations/ongoing_public_consultations/3771-public-consultation-on-draft-berec-guidelines-on-implementation-of-net-neutrality-rules

Save the Internet Campaign
https://savetheinternet.eu/en/

EU net neutrality laws fatally undermined by loopholes, critics say (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/27/eu-net-neutrality-laws-fatally-undermined-by-loopholes-critics-say 

Avaaz is a 44-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.