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Writers Demand Strong Action to Save Open Internet(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LOS ANGELES, Sept. 15 -- The Writers Guild of America-West issued the following news release: The Writers Guild of America, West is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to reclassify broadband Internet service as a Title II telecommunications service. In today's filing with the FCC, the Guild asserts that reclassification will serve the best interest of society and the free market by allowing consumers to decide, without corporate interference, what legal websites they want to visit. Reclassification will also ensure that writers and other innovators can offer their wares in free competition, rather than being relegated to an Internet slow lane that can be controlled by Internet service providers. "There is a political issue here that transcends the seemingly technical debate about rules for the Internet," said WGAW President Chris Keyser. "Free speech and fair competition are fundamental American values that currently flourish on the open Internet. Our protection of these values must mirror our rhetoric. The FCC must reclassify Internet services in order to promote these values and limit monopoly power." This is a critical issue for content creators who have increasingly looked to distribute their work on new digital platforms. The role the open Internet plays in fostering alternatives to traditional media outlets is made clear by a group of Hollywood writers who have added their stories to the WGAW's filing. Margaret Dunlap, writer and Co-Executive Producer of the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, recounts, "When the show began [in 2011], we had no corporate backing, no studio, no network partnerships at all. No industry player was interested in making scripted Internet content for a young, female audience that didn't revolve around fashion, beauty, or lifestyle topics, even on a miniscule budget like ours. And that meant that we were posting episodes of our show exactly the same way that someone would put up a video of their cat. But thanks to the open Internet and Net Neutrality, our videos loaded just as quickly and played just as well as anything on Netflix, Hulu, or NBC.com. That level playing field allowed an underserved audience to find and embrace the content that spoke to them, no matter where it came from." The Lizzie Bennet Diaries went on to win the 2013 Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Programming. Ruth Livier originally wrote Ylse, a bicultural, bilingual dramedy, in 2000 as a TV spec script, but found there was "absolutely no chance of it being produced." In 2008 she reconceived the project, and Ylse became an award-winning web series. "We all deserve to have our stories told," states Livier. "We all deserve to be heard, to be acknowledged, and to not have to sit in the shadows until someone else decides that our lives are worthy of being reflected in the media. The web is the great equalizer. It is a revolutionary platform of hope and opportunity where diverse voices can finally partake in the national conversation at all levels. Ylse.net was made possible only because of the neutral Internet." Additional comments from WGAW members Peter Knight (BoJack Horseman), Robin Schiff (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Almost Perfect, Grosse Pointe and currently shooting the pilot Down Dog for Amazon), Christopher J. Smith (My Dad's Tapes), Jay Bushman (The Lizzie Bennet Diaries), and Issa Rae (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl) can be found be found in the WGAW's complete filing. (http://www.wga.org/uploadedFiles/news_and_events/public_policy/Net-Neutrality-Reply-Comments.pdf) [Category: Union] TNS 24HariCha-140916-30FurigayJane-4860807 30FurigayJane (c) 2014 Targeted News Service |