R.E.M. and Moby for Internet Freedom

R.E.M. and Moby speak out against corporate web takeover

Rock group R.E.M. is joining Moby and a growing list of musicians pushing Congress to protect the Internet from corporate takeover by AT&T, Verizon, and other telecommunications giants.

Major artists and musicians are signing the Artists and Musicians for Internet Freedom petition -- joining Internet advocates, political groups on the right and left, consumer advocates, and over 600 diverse organizations on the SavetheInternet.com Coalition. This coalition is uniting Internet users against a congressional proposal to gut Net Neutrality-the Internet's First Amendment.

"This is yet another attempt by corporations and their congressional buddies to pull our society backwards rather than moving us forward," Michael Stipe of R.E.M declared. "These corporations are trying to set up tollbooths on the information superhighway. We need to keep Net Neutrality so the Internet remains a free and level playing field."

R.E.M. also blogged about this issue as the top item on their Web site, http://www.remhq.com.