Rachel Colyer sent an email a while back, suggesting that we write FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a more personal plea to preserve Net Neutrality. It takes a lot to get me to do that, but the Internet is important. So it seems fitting to share that letter as my first post to Daily Kos.
Necessary changes made to guard the privacy of specific people or entities appear in square brackets. Apart from those, everything is as it was when I submitted it this evening - typos, writing style issues and all. It seems dishonest to me to whitewash something of mine that is now officially a part of the public record. The letter lies in wait below the Daily Kosquiggle.
Dear Chairman Wheeler,
You've seen my name on dozens of petitions and letters asking - sometimes demanding - that you protect genuine Internet neutrality. But here's what it means to me and three of the people in my life.
I direct a women's vocal ensemble for [an early music program] in [New England]. This means music written before 1750, though we make exceptions for early American music and a few other special cases. It's very difficult to find historically correct arrangements of enough music for treble voices to both challenge and encourage my blazingly intelligent, curious and sometimes musically challenged students. I get paid a small honorarium to do this, so I rely on local libraries and the Internet to find things that they have never heard or sung before and that impress my world-renowned boss.
Unfortunately, the libraries are dwindling. Even at the hugely prestigious colleges for which I teach, the libraries are being consolidated or threatened with closure, making Internet research vital for my work and the future of my students.
When [Ruth] auditioned, she was so quiet and so out of her depth that my boss and I couldn't find a place for her in the program. But when I started to let her down as gently as I could, she fought back and begged me to let her into my group. I don't know what possessed me, but I did as she asked. I thought, cynically, that she was at least so quiet that she might not throw off the group, even though it's small.
Four years later, [Ruth] was doing solos in concerts and providing me with invaluable help putting together a program of Jewish music - all of which we found via the Internet. And because of my Internet search, I found a composer that my boss had never heard of. This is a rare achievement for anyone! [Ruth] graduated with a degree in English, but is now finishing up her Cantorial degree at a prestigious Hebrew college.
Then there's Mary (not her real name), who came to me as someone who loved music but didn't know how she wanted to include in her life. She wasn't sure she wanted to sing in public, but she took voice lessons with me for five years and sang in my early music ensemble. Much of the music in her customized academic program came from online resources. She decided in her senior year to pursue a PhD in musicology at a major college.
The sites on which I find much of this music are tiny. They are run by people and organizations with limited budgets and a love for and dedication to preserving the music from centuries past. And they are disappearing as Internet access becomes more expensive and fettered.
The light in the eyes of the students I teach, the way their voices change as they start to 'get' the music that they'd never seen before, the way it becomes a part of them - these are the signs of life changing, of glimmers of hope in a darkening world. Have you ever seen this, Mr. Wheeler? Because if you see this and know how it was caused, it's something you can't forget.
My friend Joanna (not her real name) is suffering. She is isolated due to physical and mental constraints and I worry about her every day. She gets through life in part - sometimes only - by watching her favorite vintage, rather obscure television show and discussing the episodes with fellow fans thousands of miles away via the Internet. Joanna is poor. That vintage TV show is rare and expensive, so she watches whatever is available on Hulu or Netflix and sets up viewing parties with friends from around the country.
Setting up a slow lane for that to happen, or making her pay money she doesn't have to access a fast one, would make that essential interaction impossible. It might very well kill her. And I know for a fact that she is not the only one in this situation.
The American people made the Internet possible. We all paid for its research and development, and we have all come to depend on it for our work, our communications, our wellbeing and even our lives. It has become our greatest common carrier and our lifeline in times of deep trouble. It helps people to succeed, to thrive, to innovate and even just to live.
Net neutrality is vital and the only way to ensure that everyone has access to this vital resource is to reclassify it as a common carrier. Please do this. Help keep the light in my students' eyes.