# The Open Web is Under Attack: What To Do (Part 1)

By [Continuations](https://continuations.com) · 2009-11-18

fcc, lobbying, net neutrality, congress

---

Yesterday, I wrote about why the [open web is under attack](http://continuations.com/post/247281050/the-open-web-is-under-attack).  Today, as promised, the follow up on what to do about it.  I believe the single most important thing is to let Congress know that people actually care about this.  Big companies are spending a lot of money lobbying, but good old fashioned calling and faxing (yes, faxing, at least so I am being told by folks from DC) can make a difference.  
  
Now “net neutrality,” while somewhat descriptive, is not a great term from a marketing perspective.  It sounds a bit like one is supporting blandness.  So what might you say to your representative and senator instead?  I suggest going with an analogy, something along the lines of: “I don’t want my cable/phone company controlling what I can do or see on the Internet – just like I would never want to be behind China’s firewall.  Please help us maintain our freedom of access.  Please support the FCC’s net neutrality initiative."  While this may sound a bit stark, that’s on purpose.  The core technologies of [deep packet inspection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_packet_inspection) are in fact the same in both cases and it is worth pointing that out in non-technical terms. In China you can’t get to many sites/services at all.  But imagine how your usage would change over time if some sites/services were a lot faster than others.

Now if you are wondering whom to call or fax, it is relatively easy.  You can [look up phone and fax numbers based on your address](http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/).  If you read [yesterday’s post](http://continuations.com/post/247281050/the-open-web-is-under-attack), you might also wonder what to do about platform lock-in a the application/content layer.  More on that tomorrow.

![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d9a0fcab-ada4-4198-908c-90a8d166a3e7)

---

*Originally published on [Continuations](https://continuations.com/the-open-web-is-under-attack-what-to-do-part-1)*