The VON Coalition
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Protect Your Freedom to Speak

With the Voice Activated Action Center

call senators now

 

Tell the Senate not to block your voice.

Senators say your voice is a “phantom” and want to allow phone companies to block or charge you extra for a web originated call.  Senator Stevens has introduced so called “Phantom Traffic” legislation, and says rural phone companies should be allowed to block your ability to use these voice tools because sometimes they don’t have a telephone number associated with the web site, button, or facebook application.  Listen to what he says here.  Tell Senator Stevens and the others members of the Senate Commerce Committee not to block your ability to speak and be heard.  See the VON Coalition’s testimony.  Act quickly because the Senate Commerce Committee could vote on it any day.  Use some of the very tools that would be undermined by the "so-called" phantom traffic bill to call Senators.

 

Voice Activated Action Center

 HEAR WHAT Senator Ted Stevens says about Phantom Traffic, VoIP and the Internet. Hear Ted talk.

Choose a Senator to call:

Call Senator Stevens:


By phone

By Skype Out

By microphone

By text to speech

By Phone

 By Skype-Out

 NOT INSTALLED YET By Text
We'll call your cell or landline phone, then connect you to the Senator's office If you have Skype-out installed, this will connect through Skype. Use the microphone on your computer and be connected to the Senator's office. For people with speaking disorders, we will covert text to speech to make the call

Call the whole Senate Commerce Committee at once - sequentially:


Your Phone Number:


1-( ) - -

Call the:

Follow these steps:

  1. Enter your phone number on the left.
  2. Press 'Connect me to the committee.'
  3. Wait for Committee Caller's automated voice application to call you.
  4. Pick up the phone and wait for Committee Caller to ask you to press 1 to begin calling.
  5. Once connected Committee Caller will tell you which representative you are calling, who their legislative director or chief of staff is, and what district they represent.
  6. Stay on after each representative hangs up to rate each call and move on to the next member of the committee.
  7. At any point you can use the * to hang up the call and move on to the next one. Remember not to hang up after each call as you will have the opportunity to rate how your call went.
  8. For test purposes, you can also select the fictional "Senate Committee on Network Neutrality and Broadband Oversight" which will connect you to Fandango every time.

     

Learn more about Committee Caller.com -- a free application built on open source VoIP software designed by a grad student to allow you to call any Congressional Committee and connect with democracy.

Here's what to say:

"I'm calling you from the Internet to urge Senator [NAME] to oppose the Signaling Modernization Act of 2008 (S. 2919) -- the so-called phantom traffic bill. Senator [NAME] should stand with the public and ensure that Internet based communications technology can grow and thrive. New and beneficial ways to integrate voice with the Internet are being invented every day. However, imposing rules meant for yesterday’s phone network on to tomorrow’s Internet technologies -- even as they are just emerging -- will adversely affect these vast consumer benefits. Please tell the Senator to protect my ability to speak and be heard on the Internet. 

That is why I urge the Senator to vote against this phantom piece of legislation. Thank you."