Category Archives: Kay_Hanley

the music world steps into the net neutrality debate

I’m still getting my head wrapped about this tune by the BroadBand. Written and performed by Kay Hanley (former lead singer of Letters to Cleo), Jill Sobule (“I Kissed a Girl” with one-time MTV staple video starring Fabio), and Michelle Lewis, “God Save the Internet” is another step in making the issues surrounding net neutrality more public. Perhaps my favorite lyric is “Jesus wouldn’t mess with our Internet.” Cheeky lyrics aside, the download page does include links to resources for the inspired activist, including a provocative editorial from allhiphop.com on why the African American community should be concerned about net neutrality. The telecommunication lobby is financing an well-funded campaign to implement the pro-telecom polices it supports. It is still unclear how effective the net neutrality movement will be, but it is slowly expanding beyond legal scholars into the general cultural sphere. The increasing involvement from the pop culture world, be it alt-rock or hip hop, will extend the movement’s reach to more people and encourage more discourse. All this will hopefully result in a balanced and fair approach to telecommunications policy and legislation.