Save Access

DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 2006

RALLY: 1:30 – 2:00 PM In front of the MA State House, Beacon Street, Boston

PRESS CONFERENCE: 2:00 – 3:30 PM The Grand Staircase at the MA State House, Boston

PLACE: Massachusetts State House, Beacon Street, Boston, MA

CONTACT: Colin Rhinesmith, 617-633-0501

URL: www.acmeboston.org (Action Coalition for Media Education, Boston Chapter)

On May 24, a statewide coalition in Massachusetts will join thousands across the country for a National Day of Out(r)age to protest the telephone companies’ lobbying efforts in Congress to rewrite the nation’s telecommunications laws, in the wake of recent press reports that reveal that these same companies provided information on tens of millions of American citizens to the U.S. government!

Two bills (House Bill 5252 and Senate Bill 2686) are being considered in Congress RIGHT NOW that would:

* Reduce local control of video franchising and our public rights of way!

* Open the doors for the telecommunications giants to discriminate against low-income communities!

* Undermine the ability for PEG access centers to receive adequate funding, channels, and facilities—negatively impacting thousands of access centers across the U.S.!

* Create a two-tiered Internet: (1) A fast lane for those who can afford to ride on it, and (2) a dirt road for everybody else. This action would threaten the openness of the web, bringing the Internet as we know to an end!

Join the May 24 National Day of Out(R)age - BOSTON Coalition!
Coalition members and supporters include: Joe Dalton (District Director, Office of Congressman Ed Markey), State Representative Gloria Fox, Boston City Councilors Jerry McDermott, Sam Yoon, and Chuck Turner, David Isenberg (Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School), Mel King, Communications Workers of America District 1, MASSPIRG, Alliance for Community Media, Community Change Inc., Boston Neighborhood Producer’s Group, Project: Think Different, Boston Chapter of the Action Coalition for Media Education, Public Access TV Centers in Worcester, Fall River, Lowell, Boston, and Cambridge, teachers and students from UMass Boston, Boston College, and Emerson College and local bloggers, podcasters, and videobloggers.

This event is part of a nationwide day of protests coordinated by SaveAccess.org, a national coalition of community media organizations and individuals.

Learn More and Take Action Today!
www.saveaccess.org & www.savetheinternet.com

ACMEBoston
create * educate * mobilize