I am the President of Independent ISPs for America, Inc., based in Tampa, FL. We are asking for help in fighting what we see as decisions that will mean the end to open access to information on the internet.Recently the FCC made a decision that may have gone unnoticed by the adult webmaster community because on the surface it did not affect adult webmasters.
The FCC yesterday decided that it would give control of the internet to the phone companies and the cable companies by deregulating open access to the RBOC networks. We have 1 year before the phone companies can and will kick ISPs off of their DSL networks.
Cable companies already are blocking access to services available on the internet by blocking ports. They don’t hide this fact. It will not be long before phone companies will be doing the same thing.
Access to the internet will be available through four to six companies within the next 12 months. These companies already control the internet transport, and once they control access to the internet, they will control what you can see on the internet.
I realize having worked with Xpics Publishing in the late 1990’s that this industry has fought many battles to allow Americans to have freedom of information. Much of the innovations the mainstream sites use came from the adult webmasters.
I was there when Visa and Mastercard tried to shut down the industry. I was there when the FTC did the two-year investigation into the business practices of the industry.
Whether one believes adult entertainment is moral or not is not the issue. The next phase in ridding the internet of content that some deem immoral is to block access to the sites. The FCC gave the phone companies the ability to do just that yesterday with their decision. The Supreme Court gave cable companies the ability to block access not more then a month ago.
If you would be so kind as to pass the word on to the adult webmasters you have access to, that we need help in the battle to keep the internet free and accessible, we would appreciate it.
Yes we are asking for money to fight this battle, but we are asking help in other ways as well. We are asking everyone who has any stake in online business to join our organization. Our website is located at www.ii4a.org, and there is an application form there.
We are asking for everyone to help us get the word out to the public. We are in the process of creating e-mail forms to contact our congressmen and the FCC, as well as media outlets. If we do not stop the government from giving control of the internet to a few corporations, the day is coming soon where the internet as we know it will be a thing of the past.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kevin Rockhill
President
Independent ISPs for America, Inc.
Tampa, FL
