Big tech companies have become gatekeepers to the internet, pushing innovators to the side and limiting consumer choice. That’s why Congress must act now to pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), an important bipartisan bill that will level the playing field, keep the internet open, and give you more choice. You can catch legislators’ attention by adding your signature to this open-letter that will feature in the Washington Post Wednesday.
You can read the full letter below and co-sign with the form on this page
The Letter:
Dear Congressional Members:
When a handful of big tech companies become gatekeepers, it threatens everything that makes the internet so great. Consumers want an open web, where they are empowered to engage and choose from a diverse marketplace of products, services, and platforms. But without this new bipartisan bill, the same five companies will continue to manipulate our digital world.
That’s why we are calling for the immediate passage of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA).
As makers of the beloved and trusted internet browser Firefox, we at Mozilla know first hand the value of protecting innovation for the public good. Competition is crucial to our origin story: the historic release of Netscape source code made it possible for thousands of programmers to collaborate and establish the Mozilla Project in 1998. Ever since, the Mozilla community has fought for a movement to deliver transparent, customizable, and open-source software to benefit people, and not for profit.
Our vision for the internet is one that’s private, secure, interoperable, open, accessible, transparent, and balances commercial profit and the public good. But the anticompetitive practices of the biggest tech companies have made it virtually impossible for the billions of people around the world to adopt better tech alternatives.
When the five major platforms preference their own products, it blocks out everyone else. For years, this control has made it hard for Firefox aficionados, who care deeply about privacy, performance, and security, to discover, install and use Firefox as their preferred browser.
If passed, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act would restore the open nature of the web putting you back in control of your software.
As defenders of an open and thriving internet, we urge you to please support the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
Sincerely,
Mozilla