M a r k D i l l e y

So far, more than 117,000 Common Cause activists have done their part to oppose the telecom industry's efforts to privatize the Internet and ignore the public interest.

We need to reach out beyond the Common Cause community if we want to win the tug of war with an industry that has spent over half a billion dollars lobbying Congress.1

We want to buy web ads on heavily trafficked websites like MySpace and washingtonpost.com. We need your financial support to amplify our campaign.

http://www.commoncause.org/WinTheTugOfWar

We know the big telecom companies are feeling the heat. A vote in the House Commerce Committee on the COPE Act (H.R. 5252)2 was better than we expected, with a number of Representatives switching from their earlier positions - in no small part because of hearing from people like you.

The full House will vote on the COPE Act this month, so we need to ramp up our efforts now. Your financial support at this time could make a big difference!

http://www.commoncause.org/WinTheTugOfWar

There is still time to counter the huge telecom lobby apparatus with their slick TV ads and big footprint in the halls of Congress, but we need millions of people pulling on our side.

As always, thank you for all you do for Common Cause.

Sincerely,

Lauren Coletta, Celia Wexler and Dawn Holian
The Common Cause Media Reform Team

P.S. If the telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T get their way, the Internet will change from a medium that helps people talk to one another, engage in their democracy more directly and become informed about issues, into a vehicle that only operates efficiently for big companies that want to sell goods and transmit television programs, films and games. Help us impact the debate at this critical moment: http://www.commoncause.org/WinTheTugOfWar.


1: "Common Cause fact sheet

2: A full analysis of the COPE Act is available at www.commoncause.org/COPE.

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