Telecommunications Policies

image © François ProulxToday, dozens of civil liberties organizations and Internet companies—including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, ThoughtWorks, and Americans for Limited Government—have joined the coalition demanding that Congress initiate a full-scale investigation into the National Security Agency (NSA)’s surveillance programs. The coalition includes ARL, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and many other organizations and companies concerned with privacy and civil liberties. 

image © François ProulxYesterday, ARL joined with a broad, bipartisan coalition of 86 organizations and Internet companies—including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, reddit, Mozilla, and the American Civil Liberties Union—to send a letter to Congress demanding swift investigation and reform in light of the recent revelations about unchecked global surveillance.

Letter from the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and EDUCAUSE asking representatives to oppose using the Congressional Review Act or any other legislation to overturn or undermine the recent "net neutrality" decision adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

lt-netneutrality-16feb11.pdf

issue-brief-net-neutrality-rules-implications-24jan11.pdf

RLI issue 273 includes:

• Three Key Public Policies for Research Libraries: Net Neutrality, Fair Use, Open and Public Access
• The Importance of Net Neutrality to Research Libraries in the Digital Age
• Challenges in Employing Fair Use in Academic and Research Libraries
• Public Access to Federally Funded Research: Contributions to Economic Development, Competitiveness, and Innovation

EDUCAUSE, the American Library Association, and the Association of Research Libraries applaud your "third way" proposal to ensure that students, educators, and the general public can benefit from broadband services.

lt-genachowski-broadband-plan-10may10.pdf

Letter from higher education organizations regarding preserving the open Internet.

lt-genachowski-open-internet-01mar10.pdf

Comments of the Association of Research Libraries, EDUCAUSE, Internet2, NYSERNet, and ACUTA in support of rulemaking to preserve the openness of the Internet.

comments-open-internet-broadband14jan10.pdf

Comments from Comments ARL, ALA, and EDUCAUSE in support of rulemaking to preserve the openness of the Internet.

comments_fccpublicnotice_12oct10.pdf

Comments from the Center for Democracy and Technology highlight the importance of liability protections for online intermediaries and the way these protections serve to maintain the Internet as a robust platform both for the free flow of information and for trade.

cdt-comments-openaccess-06dec10.pdf