Paul Kapustka's Blog

Here's the text of the letter, sent to me by the PR firm Quorvis Communications:

The Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Daniel Inouye
Co-Chairman
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member:

We are writing to underscore the importance of an open Internet and to seek your leadership in enacting legislation that preserves the fundamental and critical nature of the Internet.

The open marketplace of the Internet, or what has become known as “network neutrality,” empowers America’s citizenry, fuels our engine of innovation and is central to our global leadership in Internet technology and services. The rules of the road that preserved openness were eliminated last summer by the Federal Communications Commission, and it is critical that Congress moves quickly to reinstate them.

The Internet has succeeded precisely because of these rules, which have prevented network operators from using their control over Internet access to dictate consumers’ Internet experience. Likewise, innovators large and small, as well as investors, have relied on market and regulatory certainty coupled with their own ingenuity to develop new and better online offerings. This “innovation without permission” is, from our perspective, the essence of the Internet.

We call upon you to enact legislation preventing discrimination against the content and services of those not affiliated with network operators and thereby preserve network neutrality. It is our understanding that Senators Snowe and Dorgan plan to introduce legislation that would ensure the Internet remains open and neutral. We commend their effort. We encourage you to include such language in any telecommunications legislation.

Absent such safeguards, the fundamental paradigm of the Internet will be irreparably altered and that most worthy of preservation will be lost. American consumers will lose basic Internet freedoms, the engine of innovation will be hobbled, and our global competitiveness will be compromised.

We look forward to continuing to work with you and other Members of the Committee to re-establish longstanding net neutrality protections.

Sincerely,

/s/ Jeff Bezos
Founder and CEO
Amazon.com

/s/ Meg Whitman
President and CEO
eBay Inc.

/s/ Eric Schmidt
Chief Executive Officer
Google Inc.

/s/ Barry Diller
Chairman and CEO
IAC/InterActiveCorp

/s/ Paul S. Otellini
President and CEO
Intel Corporation

/s/Steve Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corp.

/s/ Terry Semel
Chairman and CEO
Yahoo!

Cc: Members of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

Interesting to see Intel get more heavily involved. With longtime Washington pro Peter Pitsch on their team, expect Intel's forays to add to the power of the pro-net neutrality forces.

I also missed the Judiciary Committee's hearings Monday, but this account on Jeff Pulver's blog makes it sound like it was an all-MC Walt smackdown, all the time. (Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.)