Committee Recognizes Importance of Internet Non-Discrimination
Groups Applaud Net Neutrality Resolution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 31, 2007

Augusta- Last week the Maine Legislature Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy took a stand for net neutrality when it approved a resolution stating the importance of internet non-discrimination principles to Mainers and directing the Maine Public Advocate to study what this state can do to protect net neutrality.  If passed, this resolution will be the first of its kind in the nation.

“Maine is heading up the fight to keep internet choice in the hands of internet users,” said Senator Ethan Strimling, who sponsored LD 1675.  “This resolution underscores that Mainers and the free market, not big telecom companies, should decide who are the winners and losers on the Internet.”

As a result of a 2005 decision by the Federal Communications Commission net neutrality principles, which had been in place since the inception of the internet, were put in jeopardy.  Since then, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe proposed legislation to reinstate net neutrality at the federal level.  Maine’s resolution emphasizes the importance of net neutrality to Snowe’s home state and could provide the impetus for her to reassert leadership on the issue.

“This resolution reflects the importance of reclaiming the internet for the people,” said Chellie Pingree.  “Mainers are no longer willing to sit back and watch as choice over what information and services they access on the internet is handed over to small group of telecomm companies.”

Net neutrality is good for local business because it allows small companies to compete online with large corporations that can afford to pay high premiums to have their content load properly.  “The development and continued enhancement of the internet is vital to economic development in this state,” said Fletcher Kittredge, Founder and CEO of GWI.  “This resolution helps ensure that investing in an expanding infrastructure will benefit everyone in Maine, not just the big telecommunications companies.”

Stating that “full, fair, nondiscriminatory, and unfettered access to the Internet is critical to the ability of Maine consumers to participate in the information economy” and that “the interests of the State of Maine and its citizens must be vigorously protected,” the committee approved an amended version of LD 1675, which was sponsored by Senator Ethan Strimling and originally titled “An Act to Protect Network Neutrality.”  The resolution will now go to a vote before the full House and Senate.

“The Utilities and Energy Committee listened to the needs of the people of Maine over the desires of a few telecommunication giants,” said Jon Bartholomew, Portland resident and National Media and Democracy Organizer for Common Cause.

Free speech advocates have been supported LD 1675 since its inception because it affirms that internet service providers shouldn’t discriminate against lawful content based on its message.  “This confirms what we’ve believed all along- preserving net neutrality is essential to protecting the rights of Maine internet users,” said Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union.  “Maine has taken the lead in protecting the internet as a free and open arena of democracy.”

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