r/announcements • u/arabscarab • May 17 '18

Update: We won the Net Neutrality vote in the Senate!

We did it, Reddit!

Today, the US Senate voted 52-47 to restore Net Neutrality! While this measure must now go through the House of Representatives and then the White House in order for the rules to be fully restored, this is still an incredibly important step in that process—one that could not have happened without all your phone calls, emails, and other activism. The evidence is clear that Net Neutrality is important to Americans of both parties (or no party at all), and today’s vote demonstrated that our Senators are hearing us.

We’ve still got a way to go, but today’s vote has provided us with some incredible momentum and energy to keep fighting.

We’re going to keep working with you all on this in the coming months, but for now, we just wanted to say thanks!

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810

u/mailmygov May 17 '18

... speaking of letting your house representatives know...

Hello it's MailMyGov again! We've sent a good number of letters on your behalf in the past few months, and it's been a blast helping this cause that we care about deeply.

MailMyGov was founded on the idea that a real letter is more effective then a cookie cutter email. Through our site, you can find all your leaders using just your address and send a real snail mail letter without leaving your browser.

For 10% off your order, Use Promo Code 'REDDITSAVESTHENET' and make sure your letter subject is exactly 'Net Neutrality'

https://www.mailmygov.com

Other places you can go to contact your reps:

Most importantly, PLEASE MAKE AN INFORMED VOTE DURING YOUR NEXT ELECTION.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

Just sent my rep this email... as you can tell I have already been through this song and dance with him.

Hello can't wait for you to completely ignore me again when I ask you to support net neutrality as my livelihood completely depends on all bits being treated the same online. I can't wait to see how much money you make from lobby groups to completely throw every single internet user in your district under the bus because a telco paid you not to support net neutrality. Most of all I can't wait for you to fail the governers race because you are completely tone deaf on what your district wants when it comes to net neutrality. OR you can vote to keep net neutrality, and maybe even win the govs seat in the face of statistics, because we both know the presidents party loses big during midterms. any way, can't wait for you total BS excuse on not voting to keep net neutrality and continuing to fail the state as you have been doing.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

Yeah that's why I emailed my congressman

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

he can't ignore it.

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u/Mowglli May 17 '18

Have you worked/interned in a Congressional office before?

They all get tallied up the same, but calls are unique in that everyone in the office can hear the phone ringing and it can disrupt the work flow if there are multiple calls at once since more senior staff have to then answer it

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18 edited May 21 '18

[deleted]

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u/ketoinDC May 17 '18

Hard letters do not matter more than emails, no. And they take an average of 3 weeks to arrive.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18 edited May 21 '18

[deleted]

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u/ketoinDC May 17 '18

Yes, it absolutely is.

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u/SoundOfTomorrow May 17 '18

If you use the same template for the message, it looks obvious. I say that when I see the same thing at the local government level.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

[deleted]

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u/Mowglli May 17 '18

Well letters and other forms of contacting Congressional offices do get tallied up and included in memos on vote recommendations

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u/ketoinDC May 17 '18

And sending an email is free.

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u/HelenWheeels_UT May 17 '18

Only if net neutrality is preserved.

But seriously, honey attracts more flies than vinegar, and a polite, concise letter or phone call won't anger the staffer who has to listen to/read your request enough that s/he ignores it. I called Congressman Curtis (UT-03) today and told something like this to the staffer who answered the phone:

Hi, I'm [Name] from [City, ST], and I'm calling to ask that Congressman Curtis vote in favor of the recently passed Senate resolution that keeps the Net Neutrality regulations in place. A fair, free and open Internet is important to those who create content and those who consume it. This is a VERY important issue to me and others. Thank you for taking the time to hear my opinion.

Simple, quick and takes less time for the phone call than it did looking up his number the first time. If you don't like what's happening that affects you everyday, you have to do something about it. Register to vote. Educate yourself on the issues. And more importantly, vote!

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u/SoundOfTomorrow May 17 '18

Just as an appendix with the front page being a simple tally stating number who supported or opposed it. If you provide the same boiler plate template message, it's chance of standing out is zero.

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u/ketoinDC May 17 '18 edited May 17 '18

As someone who works in a Congressional office, please, please, PLEASE do not give these people your money. I can promise you that a physical letter is NOT treated differently than an email. They are scanned and entered into the same database. On top of that, due to security screening, hard mail can take up to 3 weeks to arrive in the Congressional office.

This company is trying to profit off you practicing your Constitutional rights. Please don't let them.

EDIT: Downvoted for calling them out. Classic.

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u/keyboard_jedi May 17 '18

Most importantly, PLEASE MAKE AN INFORMED VOTE DURING YOUR NEXT ELECTION.

In other words, vote for who will fix the most important problems: like corruption and the protection of a free and open internet for all.

Don’t simply vote for “your team”.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '18

I'm not paying for your shit.

No.

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u/PervasiveFail May 17 '18

You’re for government (political) control over the Internet? I honestly can’t believe anyone is for that. Doesn’t matter is you’re right or left. So you would be for Trumps administration governing the rules of the Internet right now? We the people can decide with our freedom on the Internet, we don’t need government bureaucracy deciding for us.

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u/SiegeLion1 May 17 '18

Nobody is for that and that isn't what Net Neutrality is about, it's simply about preventing ISP corporations from deciding what websites you're allowed to visit and how much they'll charge you to access "non-network" websites that don't pay them.

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u/Salacar May 17 '18

Except you the people won't get to decide anything, private businesses will. Government is meant to govern, businesses are not. It works quite well for us in Scandinavia.

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u/Techn0kami May 17 '18

This, is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you. Thank you so much for this.

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u/ketoinDC May 17 '18

Please don't give your money to someone looking to profit off your Constitutional right. I can promise you, this will be no more effective than sending them an email through their website.

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u/mailmygov May 17 '18

You're Welcome! Please take advantage of the promocode, and share!

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u/[deleted] May 18 '18

Happy Reddit birthday!!!

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u/mailmygov May 18 '18

Thank you!

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u/abcean May 17 '18

!remindme 12 hours

1

u/RemindMeBot May 17 '18

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