Senator Ron Wyden is the new chair of the Senate Finance Committee. He may hold the future of the web in his hands...

Decisions that affect the openness of the Internet should never be made in secret. Trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership fundamentally lack transparency necessary for the health of the Internet ecosystem and the tech economy.

Last month, grassroots resistance beat back an initial attempt at a Camp-Baucus Fast Track Bill intended to restrict debate and ram the TPP through Congress. That bill seems to be stopped for now, but the monied interests that want to use the TPP to push their extreme copyright maximalist agenda aren't giving up.

Senator Wyden has been a champion of the Internet in the past. He stood with us on SOPA and against the NSA, but he's under intense pressure as the new Finance Chair to introduce a newer "improved" Fast Track bill. The fact is, Fast Track (AKA Trade Promotion Authority) itself is an outdated political maneuver. It's a Nixon-era tradition that's not suitable for modern democracy. We need Senator Wyden to stand on his principles of transparency in government, commons sense, and democratic process and speak out now saying he won't support any form of Fast Track / Trade Promotion Authority.

Instead, Senator Wyden should encourage robust debate in Congress and with the public about trade agreements that impact so many aspects of our lives. Help us send him a huge pile of floppy disks to remind him that Fast Track is obsolete. Share this.