Now that an open, egalitarian Internet has become an essential part of our lives, the big telcos naturally want to screw with it, creating a system where bigshots can buy a wider pipe than start-ups, and therefore you, the user, don’t get the choices you’re used to.  Naturally, their hired tools in Congress are now threatening to screw the Internet up good and proper.

    If they get their way, the telcos make money, and everybody else gets a crappier Internet.  (Which, in turn, might even mean the telcos make less money in the long run.)

    The fight has currently reached the Senate.  Josh Marshall and the fine folks at Talking Points Memo are compiling a list of the public positions of each member.  At this writing, twelve senators (all Democrats, incidentally) support net neutrality.  Three (all Republicans) are on record as against it. 

    Thirty-one senators are listed as “finger in the wind,” with no public position, and the remaining fifty-four have yet to be contacted.

    Want to keep the Internet the way it is?  Here’s what you can do:

    Visit SaveTheInternet.com.  Read the FAQ.

    Then call your senator (find their numbers here in about five seconds) and bug the crap out of them not to screw with the ‘Net.  If you find out where one of the “unknowns” stands, get back to Josh about it so the other kids in the class can build on what you find out.

    It’ll only take a few minutes, and it’ll do some good.

    (Unless, of course, you really like your phone company, and you consider them noble and selfless humanitarians.  In which case, you’re not with Sprint.  I can tell you that.)