A group of small businesses and nonprofits in Colorado joined the heated debate over “network neutrality” Wednesday, calling for Congress to enact laws to regulate the Internet.
The group presented petitions with 16,749 signatures to Sen. Ken Salazar urging the Colorado Democrat to support legislation that would require Internet access providers such as Qwest and Comcast to treat all Internet traffic on their networks equally.
“Internet’s freedom is under attack,” small-business owner Albert Smerker said during a news conference near Salazar’s office in downtown Denver.
SaveTheInternet.com, a coalition of small businesses and nonprofits that organized the news conference, said it has collected more than 1 million signatures nationwide.
The group and big Internet companies such as Google and Yahoo fear that network operators will offer quicker access to content provided by companies that have financial deals with the operators.
The Senate is expected to vote on a net-neutrality proposal in the coming weeks, said Leslie Weise, a spokeswoman for SaveTheInternet.com. The House of Representatives rejected a net-neutrality bill earlier this year.
Salazar hasn’t taken a stance on the issue, said spokesman Cody Wertz.
“The senator wants to make a thoughtful and deliberate decision on this,” Wertz said. “When he gets back to Washington next week, he is going to begin those deliberations.”
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is studying the issue and hasn’t made a final decision, said spokeswoman Laura Condeluci.
Smerker, who runs a small systems-integration company in Littleton, said his business would be at a disadvantage if larger companies such as IBM are able to cut deals with the network operators.
“We want to keep the playing field level,” he said.
Broadband providers say new laws are unnecessary and that market forces should continue to regulate the Internet.
The companies are investing billions of dollars in network upgrades and don’t want to be restricted in their ability to recoup their investment, possibly from deep-pocketed Internet companies.
“Unless companies like Qwest are free to offer attractive, enhanced services that will result in income from content providers, then consumers will be forced to bear the entire cost,” Qwest chief executive Richard Notebaert said recently.
Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, said at the rally that the Internet is the last place citizens can receive information “unfiltered.”
Jenny Flanagan, a member of SaveTheInternet.com, said the group also planned to present the petitions to Allard.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
