What if I told you we could use empty TV channels to connect millions of people in Texas to the Internet?
The technology exists to do just that. But a powerful corporate lobby is standing in the way with a multimillion-dollar misinformation campaign aimed at Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Washington faces a critical choice: Use new technology to open the Internet for everyone, or side with the lobbyists and prevent millions from getting connected. Help Senator Hutchison make the right decision:
Tell Senator Hutchison: Open the Internet for Everyone
The latest front in the battle over the future of the Internet is about "white spaces" -- empty frequencies between TV channels on the public airwaves. New technology can open this unused spectrum to powerful high-speed Internet services, bringing ubiquitous and affordable broadband to millions of Americans now left off the grid.
Here's the problem: The National Association of Broadcasters and cell phone companies want to hoard this publicly owned resource. Their lobbyists have been blitzing Washington with misinformation to prevent white spaces from being used to benefit millions of people.
Too many Americans have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide -- sidelined in a nation that increasingly demands high-speed Internet access to get things done, keep up in school and find out what's happening in the world. The answer to this problem is right in front of us.
Take Action: Open White Spaces for Everyone
If you sign the letter, we promise to hand deliver it next week to Senator Hutchison. A second copy will go to the Federal Communications Commission, which oversees spectrum policy.
Unless we urge Congress and the FCC to open up white spaces, Senator Hutchison could side with the lobbyists and deny us one of our last, best opportunities to build a better Internet.
It's a familiar story. Big media companies use any means possible to squash new ideas that threaten their control over information.
With your help today, we can stop them and open up the Internet for everyone.
Thank you,
Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press
http://www.freepress.net/
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
1. Learn more about white spaces at www.freepress.net/whitespaces
2. Read Free Press Campaign Coordinator Megan Tady's recent article about this tremendous opportunity.
3. Read the New America Foundation's report on white spaces and the "Battle over Innovation."
