Hands Off The Internet is a nationwide coalition of Internet users, manufacturers and network operators united in the belief that the Net’s phenomenal growth over the past decade will continue if government does not attempt an unwise effort to regulate a market that is otherwise working to give consumers the choices, freedom, prices and diverse experiences they desire in the new age of the Internet.

To that end, Hands Off The Internet supports state and federal public policies that ensure the broadest possible range of choices for consumers and businesses using the Internet. That includes:

• Support for an unregulated approach to Internet access in which consumers, not government, choose the method that is best for them; and
• Opposition to government attempts at regulating and/or taxing Net content or commerce.

Hands Off The Internet believes that the best way to avoid burdensome and unnecessary regulation and mandates is by ensuring that market forces deliver the benefits that only fair competition can bring to the American consumer - maximum choice in supplier, content and technology.For example, recent years have shown that companies have raced to develop a variety of high-speed Internet access systems, including cable wire, DSL and wireless. These events were competition in its purest form, and we directly benefited consumers through lower prices.

The Internet has succeeded because of the minimal legislative and regulatory impact placed upon it. This has led to expanded consumer choices and greater capital investment. Hands Off The Internet believes that if governments begin to regulate even one aspect of the Internet, that will be the start of a never-ending flood of legislation and regulation. This, in turn, will undoubtedly change the fundamental landscape, characteristics and freedom that we have long come to expect and appreciate from the Internet.

That’s why we are working to educate Net consumers and to raise their voices on these real concerns - to make sure that this negative prospect never occurs, and also that the Net remains a vibrant, free-ranging arena of competition.