i had not heard about verizon blocking text messages

from naral (of which i am a member. however, i'm NOT a verizon user BUT i do have a carrier just as bad if not worse; at&t)


Net Cemetery
Comcast, the biggest threat to free speech since Nixon.

Jeffrey Rosen

Network neutrality--that’s now the official policy of the Obama administration, announced last month by the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Julius Genachowski. It’s a development that could be more significant to the future of free speech than any milestone since the Supreme Court’s decision in New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964.

The essence of net neutrality seems simple: Internet service providers should be required to treat all data equally and avoid blocking or delaying any sites or applications. That’s an important principle to establish, because there are, unfortunately, cases where it has been violated--cases where network operators have censored speakers who threatened their economic interests. In 2007, for example, AT&T muted the sound during a webcast of a Pearl Jam concert at the very moment Eddie Vedder, the group’s lead singer, started criticizing George W. Bush. Verizon, to cite another example, has blocked pro-choice text messages sent by naral to its members (who had even requested them). When activists objected to the decision, Verizon said it would block messages from all "issues-oriented" groups, then later apologized for the whole mess, blaming the initial decision on a "dusty internal policy." Nevertheless, it kept the policy in place--reserving the right to censor any content "that, in its discretion, may be seen as controversial or unsavory.".............

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