This past September, Verizon blocked its customers from receiving NARAL Pro-Choice America action alert text messages—messages that Verizon’s customers asked to receive.
After the New York Times exposed Verizon, the wireless provider backed down, but only after making it clear that Verizon believes it’s entitled to decide who their customers can communicate with and what kinds of speech can reach them. NARAL may have eventually gotten its message out after the Times story, but some companies are still being blocked—companies like Rebtel, which offers text-based services to make cheaper long distance and international calls using short codes (5- and 6- digit numbers used for text messages).
Verizon claims to have a new policy that won’t block political speech. Its new internal policy is not public, and Verizon asks us to trust them despite the fact that they can change it whenever they like. Tell the FCC that Verizon’s closed policies are not good enough: text messages and short codes need to be subject to nondiscrimination rules, just like phone calls are.
Explain to the FCC now how you use text messages. Tell them if you subscribe to alerts from causes you believe in, if your organization text messages or short codes to reach its supporters, and tell them every other way in which text messaging and freedom of speech on our phone networks are important to you.
Note: Information filed on this form will be publicly available, as FCC comments are considered a matter of public record. The FCC does not accept comments from outside the United States.
Enter your comments here.
You are filing comments in WT Docket No. 08-7, Petition for Declaratory Ruling that Text Messages and Short Codes are Title II Services or are Title I Services Subject to Section 202 non-Discrimination Rules. More information from the FCC on this issue can be found at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-78A1.pdf.
