The Jackson Progressive regularly receives email from the Christian Coalition, that, while we disagree with almost everything the CC advocates, is useful in tracking the latest hot issues among right-wing fundamentalists.

This morning, however, it looks as though the CC suddenly realized what could happen to the Internet if the major telecom corporations got their way with the new telecommunications bill now in Congress. Here's the gist of the message:

Major telecom companies are laying plans to create tiered access to the Internet – and to charge extra fees to consumers and content providers in order to offer select web sites for "fast access" by consumers. Without "Net Neutrality", American consumers who want to pay for fast broadband access to the Internet will find out they don't actually have what they thought they were paying for. They won't have high-speed broadband access to the entire Internet; just the part that the phone and cable companies allow them to see.

The Internet is what it is today because every site, no matter how obscure, is just as accessible to every individual as any name brand site with a multi-million dollar budget. Every American has the opportunity to create their own site and say what they want to the entire world and have the same access to the world as anyone else. And consumers have the ability to connect with them.

Since the inception of the Internet, it has existed on phone lines, which were covered under what are known as "common carrier" regulations, which prevented discrimination, based on content. This principle helped make the Internet what it is today -- a dynamic engine for free expression and economic growth.

Mrs. Combs [CC president] said, "Under the new rules, there is nothing to stop the cable and phone companies from not allowing consumers to have access to speech that they don't support. What if a cable company with a pro-choice Board of Directors decides that it doesn't like a pro-life organization using its high-speed network to encourage pro-life activities? Under the new rules, they could slow down the pro-life web site, harming their ability to communicate with other pro-lifers - and it would be legal. We urge Congress to move aggressively to save the Internet -- and allow ideas rather than money to control what Americans can access on the World Wide Web. We urge all Americans to contact their Congressmen and Senators and tell them to save the Internet and to support 'Net Neutrality'."

Smart folks. They figured out that no one will win but the telecoms if the bill goes through in its current form.

The Internet today is the only mass information-dissiminating medium that is not owned and controlled by a small handful of giant corporations. No one today, no matter how visionary, can predict the changes it will bring about as the entire world plugs into a single knowledge network. It all depends, however, on the Internet remaining open and accessible to everyone at a decent price, which is what net neutrality preserves.

Postscript: Reps. Sensenbrenner and Conyers have introduced a net neutrality bill in Congress. Looks like the mobilization of the netroots is having its effect.