Comment on OTW Supports Net Neutrality

  1. fannut Wed 10 Sep 2014 06:27AM UTC

    To sign these positions do you have to be a registered voter?

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    1. EnglishSeraphim Wed 10 Sep 2014 07:00AM UTC

      I'm not sure if this is completely accurate, but from what I researched, there are two kinds of petitions. Petitions that appear on ballots during voting sessions, or on other official government documents that hold actual judicial power in a court of law, are petitions that you would have to have voter's registration for. These petitions are used to overturn laws or regulations that have already been established, but have in some way left a large group of people dissatisfied or wronged.

      However, there are also petitions held by the general public that have no actual power in the courts except to express a widely felt public opinion on an issue of morality or public interest. These petitions often seek to sway government officials from passing laws that are in the making. Since these petitions are not officially authorized by the government, and are, in fact, a matter of opinion that the officials could choose to ignore, I don't believe you would need voter registration for these.

      In the event I'm wrong and they do ask you for proof of voter registration, you could either go register if you can, or you could write congress, the FCC, etc. an angry letter telling them to back the heck away from the internet. Even those that aren't old enough to vote right now are still entitled to their opinion, and actually, anyone reading this that is underage and may find that they can't sign that petition should start doling out letters to these people. Maybe getting 4 billion plus letters in the mail will give them a taste of what it's like to deal with all their bloody internet ads.

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      1. fannut Wed 10 Sep 2014 07:14AM UTC

        Thank you!

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        1. EnglishSeraphim Wed 10 Sep 2014 07:45AM UTC

          No problem!

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    3. ProtoNeoRomantic Wed 10 Sep 2014 01:30PM UTC

      These are not 'petitions' in the legal sense but open letters. Anyone can sign them, but a voter would carry more weight with the parties being addressed, obviously. However, as someone who has worked in Washington a little. INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL, LETTERS CALLS AND EMAIL HAVE A LOT MORE IMPACT!

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