AT&T, Comcast, Google, and Verizon have spent millions in hopes of pressuring President Obama, Congress, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke network neutrality, the principle meant to keep the Internet open and free from discrimination.
As the New York Times reported in early August, Google and Verizon have been working on a private business deal in which the former would "allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content’s creators are willing to pay for the privilege."
Without FCC regulation, this deal means that corporate sites would load faster than independent sites and, as is stated at Latinos For Internet Freedom, "small businesses, nonprofits, social justice and civil rights groups, and other organizations that can’t afford high-speed services would lose their ability to reach a mass audience."
For the last few months, the FCC has been taking comments on the issue of net neutrality, promising to take public consideration into account before making any decisive action. Earlier today the FCC issued a statement, available for download at the Commission's online hub, asking Google and Verizon for more information before moving further. Their statement also calls upon the public for even more input, giving some observers reason to think that the FCC is stalling on making a regulatory decision this close to elections.
So what happens next? Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn has issued a public statement on the matter: "We expect the Commission will move quickly to set the legal framework for the FCC to oversee broadband Internet access services, with specific rules to protect the open Internet to follow soon after."
Research director at Free Press, S. Derek Turner, losing patience with the FCC, has also issued a statement: “The FCC continues to kick the can down the road and prolong this process, but the longer the FCC ponders the politics of Net Neutrality, the longer consumers are left unprotected. It is time for the FCC to stop writing notices and start making clear rules of the road.”
The Media Action Grassroots Network, MAG-Net for short, as well as OpenInternet.gov, have made resources available to those concerned with whether or not the Internet will remain a safe place for the free distribution of information. At MAG-Net, you can listen to Radio Bilingue's program "Who Controls the Net?" while OpenInternet.gov is committed to keeping the public up to speed on the month-long conversation while facilitating discussion surrounding the issue.
To contact the FCC directly with a statement of your own, visit the Electronic Comment Filing System or send your thoughts on whether or not to preserve open Internet ethics to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.
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