Big Telecom: An Emerging Threat to Our Democracy?
Massive telecom companies control virtually all of our voice and internet communications these days—and new evidence shows a near-total lack of commitment to our democracy. AT&T has proposed filtering all content traveling on its network. Verizon tried initially to block NARAL's pro-choice text messages. Most telecom companies are fighting net neutrality. Can democracy survive an assault by those who control the tubes?
Cindy Cohn is the legal director and general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She is responsible for overseeing the EFF's overall legal strategy and supervising EFF's nine staff attorneys. Cohn has testified before Congress and been featured in the New York Times and elsewhere for her work on cyberspace issues. The National Law Journal named Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007 the Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America.
Michael Kieschnick is president and co-founder of Working Assets, a social change company that provides cutting edge telecommunications services (CREDO Mobile and CREDO Long Distance) and acts as a philanthropic and an activist organization. Since its founding, Working Assets has donated $60 million to progressive organizations and its members have contacted selected decision-makers by phone, e-mail and letters over 15 million times. During the last four years, the company has registered over 1.5 million voters. Michael has a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, and previously earned bachelor’s degrees in biology and economics at Stanford University.
Matt Stoller is a political consultant and blogger. He has worked in liberal internet politics for five years in a variety of institutional and outsider roles, including blogging for Jon Corzine for Governor in 2005, working in communications and blog outreach for the Democratic National Convention in 2004 where he started the first blog for a national political convention, and embedded himself in the campaigns of Ned Lamont in 2006 and Donna Edwards from 2006-2008. His consulting clients have included MSNBC, Free Press, Actblue, Working Assets, the Sunlight Foundation, NDN, Miramax Books and They Work for Us.
Nancy Keenan is the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, an organization of more than one million member activists and 23 state affiliates.
A Montana native, Nancy is a former teacher who served as a state legislator and the statewide elected Superintendent of Education. She also ran a strong campaign for Congress in 2000.
In 2006, National Journal listed NARAL as a leader among groups that "mobilized their grassroots and got voters to the polls in the most competitive races." The organization will build on this success in 2008 by helping elect even more pro-choice leaders, including Sen. Barack Obama.
