UPDATE: HERE'S A GUIDE FOR HOW TO USE gofccyourself.com to leave comments like John Oliver asked us to. I didn't know what to do, googled, and found this link: https://venturebeat.com/2017/05/08/how-to-protest-the-fccs-plan-to-dismantle-net-neutrality/
Also: https://faxzero.com allows you to send faxes, and according to the FCC's contact page, their Toll-Free Fax Number is 1-866-418-0232
I'm urging you to call your congressperson, as well as write letters to their office(s) and to the five commissioners of the FCC, showing your support of net neutrality. Unless you are Facebook friends with them, they ain't gon' see your posts. Letters are the most physical, unavoidable way to make your opinion heard.
And since every [living human being's] opinion on this issue is the same – pro-net neutrality – I've decided to create the means to help you write these letters much in the way I have. Now that I have figured out the process (with help from my dad) I will pass the information on to you. Please do these things as soon as possible, the FCC votes to destroy American freedom on Thursday, December 14th. Write them this weekend – it's better than sex.
Firstly, you can go to www.battleforthenet.com for a more professional guide and more comprehensive resources than I can provide. There you can find the e-mail script that I used as a basis for my physical letter to congress, and you can call your congressperson with that site as well. I'm mostly here to help you compose letters, but phone calls are also important, and maybe e-mail helps. Who knows. (Yes, some of these paragraphs are in a different font, blogger won't update it even when I change it.)
Here's a helpful guide for calling your representative when you, like me, have social anxiety, or when making phone calls is stressful or difficult.
Writing a letter to congress:
Easy. You only have one congressperson, so you only have to write one letter. First thing's first: formatting. Here are two resources, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's Sample Congressional Letter and this guide at the Art of Manliness.Using battleforthenet.com's e-mail script & the ASBMB's outline as templates, and my dad's help, this is what I sent to my representative, Betty McCollum:
Feel free to copy & paste that text, and alter it based on your vocabulary. It's what I did with the original script.
December 7, 2017
The Honorable Betty McCollum
661 LaSalle Street, Suite 110
St. Paul, MN 55114
Dear Representative McCollum,
I urge you to do all you can to stop the FCC's plan to end net neutrality before the FCC's December 14th vote.
I don't want ISPs to have the power to block websites, slow them down, give some sites an advantage over others, split the internet into "fast lanes" for companies that pay and "slow lanes" for the rest, or force us to buy special "tiers" to access the sites and services we choose. But that's exactly what the FCC plan would do.
If some companies can pay ISPs to have their content load faster, startups and small businesses that can't pay those fees won't be able to compete. This will kill the open marketplace that has enabled millions of small businesses and created America’s 5 most valuable companies. Without strong net neutrality protections, internet providers will effectively be able to impose fees on many sectors of the American economy.
If the FCC passes their current order, every internet user and business in this country will be unprotected from abuse by internet providers, and the consequences will be dire. Please publicly support net neutrality protections by denouncing the FCC's current plan. Do whatever you can to stop Chairman Pai, to ensure that businesses and internet users remain protected.
Thank you,
David Hoh
[my address]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
Writing to the FCC:
Your letter to the FCC needs to be letters, as there are 5 commissioners, Rosenworcel, Clyburn, O'Rielly, Carr, and former Verizon Associate General Counsel, Chairman Pai. The format of your letter should be similar to the congressional letter, composed as such:
DATE
(space)
Their name (with formal title, if known)
Their address
(space)
Dear Commissioner So And So,
(space)
Keep your message simple and short. No insults.
I support net neutrality. I oppose the plan to undermine it, and think that it will harm America economically and reduce opportunity and individual liberty.
(space)
Thank you,
(space for signature)
Type yo’ name
Type yo’ address
My dad provided this handy template, and I'm using it for 4 out of 5 members of the board. Commissioner Rosenworcel is already on our side and wrote this piece for the LA Times. For her letter, as you'll see, I mostly thanked her, but for the matter of public record, I made sure to include my stance.
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December 9th, 2017
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Commissioner Rosenworcel,
I support net neutrality, and oppose the FCC's plan to repeal it. Thank you for defending a
free and open internet. I mean, you’re just being sensible, reasonable, and decent, respectful
and thoughtful, just and fair, but in this day and age that amounts to a lot.
Thank you tenfold,
David Hoh
[my house]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
December 9th, 2017
Commissioner Brendan Carr
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Commissioner Carr,
For a myriad of reasons, I oppose the plan to scrap net neutrality. Keeping it protects economic opportunity and individual liberty. I believe that maintaining a policy of net neutrality will continue to benefit Americans, and is in line with the spirit of the founders.
Yours truly,
David Hoh
[in the middle of our street]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
December 9th, 2017
Commissioner Michael O'Rielly
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Commissioner O'Rielly,
For a myriad of reasons, I oppose the plan to scrap net neutrality. Keeping it protects economic opportunity and individual liberty. I believe that maintaining a policy of net neutrality will continue to benefit Americans, and is in line with the spirit of the founders.
Yours truly,
David Hoh
[my house]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
December 9th, 2017
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Commissioner Clyburn,
I support net neutrality. I oppose the plan to undermine it, and think that it will harm America
economically and reduce opportunity and individual liberty. Do not vote to eliminate it. A neutral internet is right and just, not only for our economy, but for our freedom of speech, press, and expression. I believe it is in line with the spirit of the founders.
economically and reduce opportunity and individual liberty. Do not vote to eliminate it. A neutral internet is right and just, not only for our economy, but for our freedom of speech, press, and expression. I believe it is in line with the spirit of the founders.
Yours truly,
David Hoh
[in the middle of, oh whatever I don't know the lyrics to this song]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
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December 9th, 2017
Chairman Ajit Pai
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Pai,
I support net neutrality. I oppose the plan to undermine it, and think that it will harm America economically and reduce opportunity and individual liberty.
I believe that maintaining a policy of net neutrality will continue to benefit Americans, and is in line with the spirit of the founders.
Sincerely,
David Hoh
[like Folger's in your cup!]
Saint Paul, MN 55104
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Go ahead and use one or all of the same sentences I used in those letters in your own. Change 'em up, do whatever. Pick your own classy font, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, to each their own. I may just settle on one model for the 4/5 non-Rosenworcel letters, so consider the alternates totally up for grabs.
Stamps are inexpensive, as are envelopes. The impact they could make justifies whatever cost you must spend to get these letters out as soon as you can.
If this was any help, if this spurred you into this very simple, important action, thank you from the bottom of my heart,
- David Hoh
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