Our movement has received a lot of national attention and has brought to the spotlight the very idea behind our rights to digital privacy. It has ignited a conversation that was very badly needed. More than 14,000 of you donated nearly a quarter of a million to show your support and voice your opinion! That is simply amazing. Someone needed to standup and start doing something. I am humbled and honored you took that chance with me --- someone you didn’t know, but shares your same ideals. Your kind emails and comments have made this continued and unending fight for our rights and privacy worthwhile. I am so proud that we have joined together.

However, this fight is far from being over. I am still angry and even more driven now that I know I am not alone – we are not alone. We need to keep our movement going and continue to spread the word. The EFF will receive the donations raised in this campaign. They are on a constant battle for our digital rights and the funds raised here will help them to stay fighting.

President Kennedy once warned "…there is a very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment." That reality is one in which we live today.

Ultimately, we need an expansion of the 4th Amendment that explicitly includes both the right to our digital privacy and complete ownership over our personal devices. No American should be forced to unlock their cell phone or give up their social media passwords. Additionally, no American’s online habits should be bought and sold without their expressed permission—or without compensation. If your ISP makes money off selling your data, at the very least you deserve a cut. After all, you’re doing the work—why not get paid for it?

People will argue to switch ISPs if you don’t like what they are doing. For most Americans that simply isn’t possible. There may be no other provider in your area, thanks to backroom deals elicited to avoid encroaching on each other's territories. Or maybe you live in an apartment complex with an ISP monopoly, where one ISP is the sole provider of services to tenants—a very common practice. Sometimes, ISP providers are even bundled into your rent, forcing you to use their service. Where are the regulations that protect you? The laws that promote competition so you can get the best deal? You cannot simply shut off your service, either. You need it. It is a utility. It’s a part of your modern-day life. It’s how you communicate.

Now there is a war on for Net Neutrality. The very idea that the Internet should be a level playing field for all people. In essence your ISP can slow traffic to a website that is competing or hasn’t paid for fast access. If Net Neutrally fails, do not be surprised in a few years if the Internet has been broken up into packages like the cable industry. A future where you must pay an extra $10 a month for access to video sites like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu. While access to AT&T’s DIRECTV remains free, fast and most importantly doesn’t count against your data plan. That future isn’t rapidly approaching; it is here[2]. Why would you go to Netflix or Hulu if DIRECTV is free?

This must stop. Where do we draw the line? When are we going to say, “We have had enough”?

At times, our outrage and combined voices on this topic fall on deaf ears. It’s time the American people had someone who fought for them. Someone who knows what it feels like to be on the losing end; to always be on the defensive and always get the short end of the stick—and often be left with the bill, too. It is time to do something.

Well, I have had enough. I am tired of being cast aside simply because our rights are an inconvenience for the major telecoms and corporations. I am tired of being sold out by our elected officials.

Our government can spend $700 billion to bail out Wall Street[3], but you and I must pay for it, all the while being stuck with student loans.

We can spend $2.4 trillion on a never-ending war[4], but we can’t afford to give each American basic health coverage.

We spent $9.26 billion rescuing the automotive industry[5]—money the people will never see again.

Where does this money come from? You and me. The middle class and the poor.

All the while, large companies lobby our leadership to relax taxes for them, repeal regulations that are “burdensome” on their business model, and slowly more and more of our civil liberties are chipped away.

Where do we as a people draw the line? Why are we OK with this? Where are our tax cuts? Where are our bailouts? Where is our help? We should be banging down Congress’s door demanding change.

All this to say, I am considering running for president.

Your support thus far has shown me there is a need—a want—for someone to lead who shares the beliefs of the people. You don’t need another billionaire or politician with a self-serving agenda that focuses on the needs of the corporate donors who keep them in office.

You need someone who knows what it is like to be an average citizen, living paycheck-to-paycheck. Someone who will fight for you because he knows exactly what you are going through because he experiences it. Someone who is connected to the daily lives of hard-working Americans who simply want a government that works for them and in their favor. We need to do something before it is too late, before our rights have been manipulated and removed to the point where we don’t recognize them—to the point where there’s no turning back, no recourse.

We are constantly promised change. We never get it—just more of the same. It’s time we had someone in office who understands what the average American goes through. We are angry. We want relief. We want help. We want someone to fight for us and give us a voice. But who will do this?

I will.

You took a chance and believed in me and as I promised, I’m going to continue fighting for you.

You wanted your voice to be heard. I heard it.

It’s time to alter the system from the inside to effect real change. It is time we took our government back to its roots and have a president who is of the people, for the people, and most importantly—with the people.

We are stronger united.

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References

[1] https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/American-Newspaper-Publishers-Association_19610427.aspx

[2] https://www.att.com/bundles/data-free-tv.html

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_2008

[4] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314

[5] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/12/30/auto-bailout-tarp-gm-chrysler/21061251/

Quick update. Nothing to report from my efforts so far. I have a bigger announcement at the beginning of the week regarding the status of our efforts, the EFF and the future of our movement.

I have yet to receive any responses to my requests.

I’m not surprised. Sometimes it feels like we fight a losing battle.

This is going to be a big update.

With the FCC now removing protections for Net Neutrality — to ‘restore internet freedom’, we are once again at the mercy of big telecoms.

The Internet does not belong to corporations or any telecom industry, even though they want you to think that.

It belongs to YOU.

You paid for it with your tax dollars. The gap between who has Internet access and who doesn’t is quickly narrowing. It has become so ingrained in our lives that it is a utility. You rely on it every day. For work, communication, banking, shopping, entertainment, you name it.

You have right now, the ability to freely access the entire sum of human knowledge at your fingertips. But without Net Neutrality, your ISP can block content it doesn’t like. Slow your traffic to competing websites or services. Your access is in jeopardy.

The Internet as you know it, the World Wide Web ( www), is 25 years old. I was fortunate enough to witness its birth into the PUBLIC domain back in 1993. Since then, the Internet has matured into an indispensable and invaluable part of our daily lives.

Along with your privacy, the Internet too needs protection.

To be unrestricted so that a young girl with the next great ‘Netflix’ competitor has an actual chance. Or a young boy who has the next great ‘Facebook’ has the equal opportunity to become king. Without a fair and equal Internet, Facebook would have never taken over MySpace, or MySpace would have never taken over Friendster.

If we are to truly have completion, the playing field must be equal for all — and without Net Neutrality that will never happen.

It seems every day we wake up, we lose more and more of those things that make our lives better.

When the chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, announced that “We are restoring Internet freedom by removing regulations”, major telecom hailed it as a great idea.

Anytime a corporation hails the removing of consumer protections or laws that do not favor the American people, you must be skeptical.

I want to challenge everyone reading right now, call 1-888-225-5322. That’s the number for the FCC. Call them, voice your opinion, and tell them to put the privacy protections and Net Neutrality protections BACK.

You can also go leave a comment here:
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-108&sort=date_disseminated,DESC

We are stronger united.