Fw: Big Phone. Big Cable. Same $ellout.

From: "Josh Silver, FreePress.net" <info@freepress.net>

End These Secret Meetings! The Wall Street Journal just revealed that the FCC has been convening secret backroom meetings with phone and cable lobbyists to cut a deal on Net Neutrality. The closed-door meetings have included a small group of lobbyists from AT&T, Verizon and Google. The goal, according to insiders, is to "reach consensus" on rules of the road for the Internet. This is outrageous. The FCC can’t ignore the public's demand for Net Neutrality and then quietly give control over the Internet to a few massive corporations. Tell Obama and the FCC: Stop These Secret Meetings President Obama pledged to "take a back seat to no one" in his support for Net Neutrality. To head the FCC, he appointed Julius Genachowski, the man who crafted his pro-Net Neutrality platform in 2008. But even after millions of people joined Obama’s call for Net Neutrality, FCC staff is huddling with industry lobbyists in secret to cut a deal that could leave the free and open Internet in jeopardy. This plot is all too familiar. We've seen it before, during the BP oil disaster and the subprime mortgage meltdown, when government officials put the interests of big business ahead of those of the public. Now, the same thing is happening to the Internet. We can’t let the one agency tasked with oversight of communications strike secret deals that undermine Net Neutrality. Don’t Let Lobbyists Determine the Future of the Internet Sign our letter to President Obama and the FCC to end the secret meetings and guarantee that the public -- including the tens of millions of Americans who use the Internet every day and in every way -- is given a seat at the table. Thank you, Josh Silver President and CEO Free Press http://www.savetheinternet.com/ http://www.freepress.net/ P.S. Be sure to sign the letter to Obama and the FCC. Then forward this e-mail to your friends in Pennsylvania and share the action via Twitter. P.S.S. Check out our full-page ad protesting the secret meetings, which ran in today’s Washington Post.