Commentary

Internet Trade Group To FCC: No Online Fast Lanes, Please

A trade group representing Google, Facebook, Amazon and other large Web companies is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit broadband providers from creating online fast lanes.

“The Internet must be defended from interests that would seek to control speech on the Internet, censor content, or provide advantages for speakers that have the means to pay for better access,” the Internet Association said in its second round of comments on proposed net neutrality regulations. “The Commission should make clear that broadband gatekeepers should not have the ability to create slow lanes and fast lanes on the Internet that discriminate against speech and harm users.”

The Internet Association also says that any neutrality rules should apply equally to wired and wireless providers. “There is only one Internet, and the FCC’s openness rules should recognize that,” the organization writes.

The trade group filed its comments on Wednesday -- the same day that many of the most popular Web sites organized a symbolic “slowdown” aimed at rallying support for net neutrality principles. That initiative, which involved asking people to contact their lawmakers, resulted in almost 300,000 phone calls and more than 2 million emails to Congress, according to organizers.

The FCC, which is accepting comments through Sept. 15, has already received a record-breaking 1.4 million comments. The Internet Association noted the unprecedented interest in neutrality in its most recent filing.

“The public has spoken,” the trade group wrote. “It has reminded the Commission that the Internet is an indispensable platform for entertainment, commerce, innovation, and democratic discourse.”

So far, though, it's hard to know what impact those comments are having on policymakers. As of today, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler hasn't indicated that he plans to back away from an earlier proposal to allow broadband providers to charge companies extra for faster delivery.

1 comment about "Internet Trade Group To FCC: No Online Fast Lanes, Please".
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  1. hardy stevenson from Oracle, September 13, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.

    Wheeler the weasel has more than made his priorities clear. A former Comcast lobbyist mind you. He wants to exploit the open internet for profit specifically for monopolies. Monopolies are now becoming the government folks. They cannot be regulated , governed or fought. The net has been a boon for mankind for reasons related to openness. Wheeler tries vehemently to exploit it for Comcast for profit at great peril on our backs. If anything comcast should be split up. They have not split up monopolies for many many years. Thank you Republicans for your vision of selfishness. Wheeler was a clear mistake that needs to be lanced like a cyst and removed forcibly. He is corrupt and slighted. We must stand firm against this all. It is the very air we speak in freely they are trying to exploit. There now is
    a feeding frenzy fighting for a piece of our clear air. The governments responsibility is to stop this and fight for us as we get exploited by the few, the greedy, the powerful lusting for yet much much more. By any mens necessary we should fight for our free air if we are to be worth anything at all.

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