EDUCAUSE and Internet2 Commend Bipartisan Legislation to Protect the Open Internet

Washington, D.C.—EDUCAUSE and Internet2 today commended the “Internet Freedom Preservation Act” recently introduced by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and cosponsored by Commerce Cochairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) as well as Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), and Barack Obama (D-IL).

The bill provides an active and bipartisan approach to preventing phone and cable companies from manipulating the performance and architecture of the Internet. As a result, the bill protects the openness and freedom of the Internet that is vital to enabling the research and education community to fulfill its mission of promoting educational and innovation opportunities for all Americans.

Many students, faculty, and researchers already routinely use technologies such as DVD-quality videoconferencing and are hard at work developing more advanced, potentially life-changing technologies in areas such as telemedicine and distance learning. These technologies hold the promise of saving taxpayers millions of dollars in healthcare and education expenses, while unleashing new economic and educational opportunities if consumers, businesses, students, and entrepreneurs are given unfettered access to high-speed broadband connections and content.

EDUCAUSE and Internet2 also commended the “Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006” introduced on May 18 by U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), which also seeks to protect network neutrality. Both the House and Senate’s bipartisan efforts demonstrate that keeping the Internet open to all Americans is critical to our continued economic prosperity and long-term national interests .

Learn more about the importance of this issue to higher education and the public at the EDUCAUSE Net Neutrality resource site.

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 2,200 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 250 corporations, with 17,000 active members. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.

About Internet2

Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 recreates the partnerships among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today’s Internet in its infancy. For more information, visit www.internet2.edu.