Free Press Update on the Broadband Stimulus Package

President Barack Obama just signed an economic stimulus bill with $7.2 billion to get fast, affordable, neutral Internet to the nearly half of American homes that don’t have it.

Together, we have sent millions of e-mails and made thousands of calls. And now, we’re finally seeing the fruits of our labor.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see President Obama’s media and tech policies posted on the White House Web site -- with Net Neutrality, diverse media ownership, rights to privacy, and other crucial provisions that you and I and millions of others demanded.

This fight is about the future of our media, our economy and our country. High-speed Internet is needed for jobs, education, and news and information. It is the future of all communications.

$7.2 billion is a great start, but it will take billions more to finish the job. And that’s just part of the puzzle.

We still need Congress to make Net Neutrality the law of the land. We’re re-engaging the more than 850 organizations, 1.6 million people, and 6,000 bloggers that make up the SavetheInternet.com Coalition to pass a bill this year.

We’re launching new videos and organizing in-district visits, and we’ll need you next week for a letter to the editor campaign to flood local newspapers with personal accounts of why an open, accessible Internet matters.

Together, we will win this fight to create the Internet we want and our country needs.

Thank you.

Josh Silver
Executive Director
Free Press Action Fund
http://www.freepress.net/

P.S. Free Press is an effective and efficient organization. We rely on you -- both your activism and financial contributions -- to continue our work. This is a long-term fight and we don’t take money from industry groups or government. Every contribution you make keeps us going strong.

P.P.S. In just the past few days, Free Press has spoken out for a neutral -- or "open" -- Internet in the pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and on NPR. To get the latest news on the media reform movement, subscribe to the Media Reform Daily.