It’s the biggest First Amendment battle of our time. Net Neutrality, what does it mean and why should we care? It’s one of the most clouded and confusing topics of right now and Al Franken took it down a notch and delivered a speech we could all understand. Net neutrality is what we have right now, a free and open internet. He said if the conglomerates have their way the internet as we all know and love will cease to exist.

Franken argues that the current state of the internet is the “small d,” where one must rise up above the rest to stand out with a better voice, a better better slogan and a bigger deal all delivered at the same speed. These companies want to tier the internet, where only their email, their product is delivered at a faster rate, leaving the independent musician, artist or the common developer who helps create jobs, stuck in internet traffic, choked off from the mass market.

If they succeed, rest assured you will be paying more for your connection and those free online service we all no and love will be gone. Franken says that the anticompetetive rules these companies are trying to push on use are in direct violation of antitrust laws and should not be allowed to pass.

So what can we do to help? “Use the internet to save the internet,” Franken says. Be more active in your community, don’t turn a blind eye on this subject, and email the powers that be who are out there to make sure the internet stays free and open.