Two days after Lady Gaga lost her fight for changing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in the U.S. Senate, musicians including Bonnie Raitt, Rosanne Cash, Jackson Browne, R.E.M., the Roots, Ok Go and Moby are joining the Writers Guild of America East for another Washington policy fight.
This time it’s for net neutrality. The singers and bands are joining MoveOn.org and the Future of Music Coalition in urging Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski to move forward.
The groups have written a letter to Genachowski and also have launched Facebook and Twitter activities urging the FCC to act.
“The future of the internet depends on decisions made today, as does the future of music,” said the letter. “We believe that net neutrality is the best and only way to ensure that both futures remain bright.”
The letter suggest that the internet “has facilitated an explosion of creativity and commerce, offering unprecedented opportunities to musicians and music entrepreneurs. “Due to the open structures of the internet, musicians and other creators and innovators can compete on an equal technological playing field with the biggest companies. The result is a blossoming and legitimate marketplace that compensates creators while rewarding fans with access to an incredible array of music.
“None of this could have happened without net neutrality — the principle that protects the open internet. That's why we support efforts to preserve net neutrality for the benefit of innovation and free expression — and urge the FCC to act immediately to ensure that the internet is kept free and open.”
Currently, the FCC can’t act on net neutrality, as the result of a court ruling saying it has no legislative approval to oversee the internet. It has temporarily put off a vote on changes that allow get around that by reclassifying the internet as a phone service.
