Open Sound - Musicians for Net Neutrality | SaveOurNet

Open Sound is a group of musicians and labels that support net neutrality. Network neutrality — or Net Neutrality — is the principle that preserves a free and open Internet. Net neutrality ensures that all users can access the lawful content, or run applications and devices of their choice. Net neutrality also lets independent artists and labels compete on an equal technological playing field with the biggest companies.

How does this affect musicians, you ask? Well, if you're an independent musician, the music you upload to promote yourself could potentially be throttled. Musicians on large record labels have their record label pay the ISPs extra money so the music is given special treatment on the Internet. Those musicians who cannot afford to get into the high-priced fast lane will be placed in the slow lane; uploading music takes longer, music stalls when fans try to listen to it, or say if you're offering a free download, the song would take longer to download.

Additionally, ISPs have been known to censor musicians at times, example: In the US, Pearl Jam was censored by AT&T in 2007 - http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/08/pearl-jam-censored-by-att-cal...

As musicians and entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of treating all websites equally — from the busiest online music store to the smallest blog.