Last week, a group of Redditors came to D.C. to lobby for Net Neutrality--the same week the House voted to repeal the FCC's Net Neutrality rules. So, this is the part where we ask for your help.

Gathering some kind-hearted volunteers, a few beers, and 15 pounds of construction paper, the members of the Open Source Democracy Foundation (OSDF) assembled the Valentines messages you gave us to support Net Neutrality--you may recall the idea from this post. The next day we met with the offices of Senators Al Franken, Maria Cantwell and Kay Bailey Hutchison to tell them how important this issue is to Reddit, the OSDF, and anyone else that uses the internet (read: everyone). All three very receptive and welcoming, but Franken’s staff truly LOVED the Valentines and assured us that the Senator would be reading a number of them. It was great to have a chance to talk with their offices and let them know we exist and that we care, but we know we can’t stop there. We know now that there is the potential for movement on this issue, but we have to get active and we have to get loud. There is much work to do and we need your help.

Looking Ahead: Maria Cantwell and Al Franken have introduced a bill that would go a long way toward keeping control of the Internet out of the hands of the ISPs, and beef up the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules, which we believe didn’t go far enough. This bill will only pass if we can show support for it, and make our voices, not just the voices of Comcast or AT&T, heard.

One of the things Franken’s staff mentioned to us was that they don’t get a lot of calls about Net Neutrality. We need to change that. We need help spreading the word about this issue. An article last year mentioned that Net Neutrality opponents were outspending our side by a margin of 4-to-1. There's been some dubious polling about Net Neutrality, which isn’t helping, either. And just last week, the House voted to de-fund the FCC’s enforcement of Net Neutrality rules in the 2011 budget.

We also need to get businesses on board. The end of Net Neutrality means that a handful of companies will be able to dictate which sites we get to access, forcing us into an Internet caste system. If you run a web-based business and aren't able to pay an ISP’s toll, you will not get access to users. These concerns aren't theoretical, they're already happening (pdf). It’s not enough to have to have the support of people like Franken and Cantwell--we must be loud and enthusiastic of their actions and this cause. We cannot let them be voices in the wilderness.

Get Involved: If you’re like what we did and what we’re fighting for, then please say so in the comments! You can sign up for our mailing list, subscribe to /rpac, or even donate!. By the way, we aren’t using paypal. We are in the planning stages for our next move and welcome all input, so if you have an idea on what we should do next, LET US KNOW.

Thanks, reddit.

TL;DR - We’re the OSDF, we’re from Reddit, and we’re fighting for Net Neutrality. Click here to join us.