Relax today because the work begins again tomorrow.

Starting this week, we will begin some carefully coordinated pushback against Time Warner Cable’s changes to their Subscriber Agreement, because despite company claims that they’ve not implemented any Cap ‘n Tier system at this time, the writing is on the wall in 1000pt type, readable from space.  No company changes their legalese “just because,” and CEO Glenn Britt’s public statements late last week make it patently obvious which way this road is heading.

Here are the things YOU need to do today so you are prepared to act when we need you:

1. Bookmark this site and check it daily.  A Call to Action is most effective when everyone starts moving on it around the same time.  It’s less helpful to arrive here a week after the fact.  Everytime an article is posted here, our Twitter channel sends out a tweet.  You can follow us on Twitter from the stopthecap channel.  Just insert the text stopthecap in the box on that link and you’ll find us.  I am still working on finding a good e-mail notification system that will let you subscribe and be notified in e-mail when new items are published.
2. You will be asked to write, phone, and e-mail elected officials.  In all such communications, remember the three P’s rule: Be polite. Be persistent.  Be persuasive. I will, when time allows, provide you with sample letters or talking points to use.  Elected officials are wise to pre-formatted, automated contact campaigns, so I do not use them here.  You will always be expected to communicate in your own words, because elected officials will pay attention to those.  They toss out those online petitions, automated pre-written letters, and other communications that look automated.  It will literally take less than five minutes to follow through on most Calls to Action.  If you leave it to someone else, and they leave it to you, nobody picks up the phone or writes the letter.
3. Get educated.  A great deal of information and background material is already here.  You can follow specific company actions, cities, or policies from the menu options along the top of the screen, as well as in the search box.  If you have a question about an article, write it in the comment section.  I try and read and reply to many of them, along with others here.
4. Continue to pass along news tips, suggestions, or other pertinent material through our Contact form.  I try and credit people as often as possible, and some story ideas may appear later on, so don’t be discouraged if yours doesn’t turn up as an article in short order.
5. If you find value in what we do, consider making a contribution.  I am going to begin crediting our contributors (first names by default) here to thank them.  Your contributions pay for server expenses, a post office box, software expenses (this WordPress theme for example), and will also go towards mailing and printing expenses as we start educating elected officials on our issues.  Telecom companies just spent nearly a half million dollars in North Carolina alone to stop municipal broadband there through campaign contributions.  We have to rely on actual facts and a substantially lower budget to fight back!