Statement of Principles

WE’VE COME SO FAR, SO QUICKLY. Over the past decade, Americans have come to enjoy a stunning range of opportunities stemming from the Internet. The Internet allows millions of Americans to have an electronic encyclopedia right at their fingertips, to manage their own finances through online investing and bill payment, save money through online shopping worldwide and to discover vast new fields of knowledge all with the click of a mouse. Best of all, in the Internet world, geography is no longer destiny, as consumers can access information from their home or office, dorm room or library, favorite coffee shop, personal car or now even the public park.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE? Hands Off The Internet believes that a secure, safe and robust Internet is a necessity for the consumer, the professional, the student, and the average American searching for a quick answer to life’s many questions. Hands Off The Internet seeks to protect and encourage the future of the most innovative and most important tool of today that we use for our everyday living.

Hands Off The Internet believes that this array of consumer friendly choices could never have developed with the freedom and the speed we see today if the federal government had taken a heavy-handed regulatory approach to the Internet. Such overregulation would have created uncertainty and confusion in the marketplace, stifling innovation.

HANDS OFF THE INTERNET’S 6 PRINCIPLES

The FCC adopted a set of principles last year for broadband access to the Internet that included the following points:

1. Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice;

2. Consumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;

3. Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network;

4. Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.

Building from that solid foundation of showing that regulation is not needed,we believe the FCC’s reliance on competition and self-regulation provides the right model. Hands Off The Internet has adopted a set of principles designed to make this mode work, and further suggests that any policies impacting the Internet or consumers’ use of it must include the following principles in order to guarantee that consumer choice, jobs and economic growth continue to thrive:

1. FAIR COMPETITION is the best way to ensure the widest possible array of consumer choices.
The free market works. The growth of choices on the Internet during the last decade is solid proof. There are new Internet opportunities almost each and every day. The only proper role for government should be to combat fraud or monitor criminal activity. New regulations that would inhibit competition among application, service, content, or network providers should be rejected. Rather, the government should focus on enforcing laws already on the books, and not adding new layers of regulation intended for one particular medium, i.e. the Internet.

2. Consumers and businesses must be free to conduct online commerce without the fear of CONFLICTING OR DUPLICATIVE TAX POLICIES.
To encourage electronic commerce, federal and state governments must create clear, unambiguous and non-discriminatory rules for Internet taxation. The current three-year moratorium provided by The Internet Tax Freedom Act is an important first step in creating this new system. The bottom line is that Internet commerce must be free to develop, unfettered by discriminatory and burdensome taxation.

3. Government has no business REGULATING INTERNET CONTENT.
Just as government should not be in the business of censoring books or newspapers, it should not be trying to regulate Internet content. The only exceptions should be for illegal actions, which law enforcement authorities are justified in dealing with promptly and efficiently. We strongly support efforts to keep harmful material away from children. However, we believe that such efforts should come from parents or guardians - not the government.

4. Government policies must not FAVOR OR INHIBIT ANY ONE COMPETITOR in any Internet industry.
There are increasing calls for regulation of particular aspects of the Internet, such as various methods of Net access. Yet with entrepreneurs constantly developing new and improved connection techniques -- satellite, wireless, digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, "fast modem" -- any government policy to regulate current options will inevitably make things more difficult for new competitors to gain a foothold. The last few years have truly seen a flurry of announcements from competing companies all accelerating their efforts to bring exciting and fast-working broadband technology into America's homes and offices.

5. Internet users should have total FREEDOM OF EQUIPMENT AND APPLICATIONS.
Consumers are permitted to access or connect to a variety of services, equipment, legal devices, and applications, so long as they don’t harm the network or hamper the efforts of law enforcement officials.

6. The best way to stop future efforts at misplaced government regulation is through INFORMING NET USERS AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD.
As the Internet grows, governments at all levels are becoming increasingly tempted to regulate the medium. If this happens, the real losers will be Net users, who will see fewer choices and less innovation in their favorite means of communication, commerce and information gathering. That's why Net users need to be kept informed of potential regulatory actions and be encouraged to contact their elected officials with a strong message to keep their Hands Off. Hands Off The Internet provides you with an easy and effective way to communicate directly and immediately with your elected officials, and voice your concerns involving undue regulation and unneeded legislation affecting our Internet.