'Internet freedom' becomes hot cause for politicians across political spectrum

Some groups may be hoping to use their Internet freedom declarations to attract to their causes some of the millions of people who participated in the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). But converting the enthusiasm for Internet freedom into specific policy goals may prove difficult because of how differently people understand what “freedom” means.

Conservatives, for example, decry network neutrality as a government takeover of the Internet, but liberals say the regulations are necessary to protect the openness of the Internet from manipulation by Internet service providers. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and his son, freshman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), declared their support for an Internet freedom manifesto from the Campaign for Liberty. The manifesto backed by Ron and Rand Paul accuses liberals of distorting the concept of liberty. “Internet collectivists are clever,” the document reads. “They are masters at hijacking the language of freedom and liberty to disingenuously push for more centralized control. 'Openness' means government control of privately owned infrastructure. 'Net neutrality' means government acting as arbiter and enforcer of what it deems to be 'neutral'.”