The US's indie music trade body, A2IM, has provided its official backing to the Rock The Net campaign, which has been launched by a coalition of musicians, indie labels and music fans to lobby American political types to safeguard "net neutrality".
This is a campaign that has come about because of reports that major US internet firms like Verizon and AT&T are talking about offering website owners the option to pay to ensure that their web services download faster when accessed by the ISPs' customers. The people behind Rock The Net fear that this will mean that major record and media companies who can afford to pay such fees will be able to offer better and faster services to their consumers than indie players or individuals who cannot afford the fees, meaning the level playing field of the internet becomes somewhat less level. They also fear such a move could be a stepping stone towards internet service providers starting to regulate which websites their customers can access. All of which sounds like a place we really don't want to go, which is the point of the Rock The Net campaign - the campaigners hope to persuade Congress to ensure the ISPs cannot introduce such systems (assuming they ever really would try to).
Many indie labels have already backed the campaign, but this week A2IM offered its official backing, telling reporters: "A tiered web which discriminates against consumers is a step in the wrong direction. To that end, A2IM calls on its members, and all those who recognize the potential dangers of charging for having their websites load faster, to join the campaign and sign the petition to promote the principle of network neutrality".
Anyone interested in the campaign should go check http://www.futureofmusic.org/rockthenet/