Jay Inslee: “the Internet, the World Wide Web truly are the most magnificent intellectual achievements since the invention of the…”

“the Internet, the World Wide Web truly are the most magnificent intellectual achievements since the invention of the printing press. And tonight the U.S. Congress, if it does not do its job, will severely let down that marvelous achievement of the human intellect because today, at least until last August, engrained in the DNA of the Internet was a principle of nondiscrimination and freedom among all sources of information on the Internet. Unless we pass the Markey amendment and preserve net neutrality, that basic DNA is going to be subject to mutation, to discrimination. We have a simple proposition in the Markey amendment, and that is just as all men are created equal, all bits are created equal and we must treat all bits of information fairly, accurately, and without discrimination. If this amendment does not pass, we will for the first time, for the first time allow the infection of discrimination to discriminate amongst bits of information. I note this because the opponents of this amendment, the Markey amendment, are saying we have to get these entities that use these services to pay. No doubt. And under the marketing ability, you will be able to charge for the distribution of bits. But what we should not allow is to discriminate amongst those who in fact enter the on-ramp of the Internet information superhighway. {time} 2015 We will continue to allow people to charge depending on how many bits you send through the pipe.…”