The popular progressive web site DailyKos has a petition up to President Obama, asking him to stick by his words this week that ‘his administration supports network neutrality’ and a fee and open Internet, and opposes the proposal for ‘fast lanes’ for the corporate oligarchy on the Internet.

Petition to President Obama on Network Neutrality

Here is my commentary just submitted via the petition.

Dear President Obama–

The Internet is by definition a free association of independent networks. It is the medium of communication, exactly like a telephone network is the medium of telecommunications.

Internet traffic must be declared COMMON CARRIER, just like telephony. And all traffic must be allowed to travel from any point to any other point on the network without throttling or special permissions.

The major ISPs want to up their profits by a) special deals to favor traffic of CONTENT PROVIDERS, and b) become content providers themselves, and favor their own content.

These latter goals must NOT be allowed. Any entity, including the ISPs, should be free to offer any and all content they wish.

But the traffic carrying their content, and ANY content by ANY entity on the Internet must travel neutral paths, without restriction.

The Internet as a network is NOT a push medium. It is NOT a broadcast medium. It is simply the information superhighway, designed to carry electronic path through agreed on neutral protocols and by means of packets that meet a specific design for content. The Internet was in BY DESIGN structured so that traffic could take any one of multiple possible paths from any one point to any other point.

This intrinsic design element demonstrates clearly that the Internet must be classified as common carrier status, just like the telephone network.

The Internet is the MEDIUM. It is NOT the message. The messages are manifold, and the ability of the Internet to carry information freely to any and all connected to it has made it quite literally the greatest invention and contribution to humankind and advancement of knowledge and communication since the invention of the printing press.

Please. Just pick up the phone, call Wheeler, and tell him what your administration’s policy is, and stop this takeover by the corporate oligarchy of the free and neutral Internet.