#activism

2014-09-09

Tomorrow is the Internet Slowdown

Time for another Web protest to keep the cable companies from breaking the internet…

THIS IS THE BATTLE FOR THE NET. Team Cable is spending millions to destroy the open internet. Stop them: battleforthenet.com

The goal now is to get the FCC to reclassify Internet Service Providers in a way that will allow the them to effectively enforce net neutrality (Title II is the key to net neutrality—so what is it?).

What can you do? Submit a comment to the FCC by September 15 (enter “14-28” in the proceeding number field and “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet” for the name of flier field. Read others’ comments here). Encourage others by emailing, writing a post, and/or participating in tomorrow’s Internet Slowdown protest with a bit of code to display an alert on your site for the day (as I’ll be doing) or a “page loading” icon for your social media thingy.

2011-06-09

A Common Resource p.1

A Common Resource page 1

Transcript

A COMMON RESOURCE copyright 2011 Colin Tedford

1. In 2001, the corporation USA Springs set its sights on Nottingham, NH, aiming to extract 430,000 gallons a day of the town’s water and convert it to profits.
[IMAGE: a tall robotic machine labeled “USA SPRINGS” strides down a curved road from the distance, toward a sign that reads, “Entering Nottingham”]

2. After initial approval from the town government, many residents objected on the grounds that the water bottling plant would drain the aquifer, draw pollutants into it, and damage wetlands.
[IMAGE: Angry protesters with signs. One speaks a word balloon containing a picture of a puzzled person turning on their sink tap and only getting a drip, and another picture of the robotic USA SPRINGS machine sucking water through a flexible pipe stuck in the ground. A man in a suit pilots the machine, and a rapidly-filling bag attached to the rear of the machine bears a dollar sign.]

3. Nottingham citizens worked tirelessly to learn the ins and outs of the regulatory system.
[IMAGE: Protesters trying to navigate a maze; the leader has a map and looks stressed.]

4. Unfortunately, they learned that the rights of corporations trump those of people, as their challenges were dismissed, or won and then overturned.
[IMAGE: The protesters, having reached a dead end in the maze, watch in alarm as the USA SPRINGS machine strides down a straight corridor through the center of the maze, just on the other side of the wall.]

Here’s the first page of my comic in WATER, the new Trees & Hills anthology. To read the rest, pick up a copy – it’s full of good comics!