'Internet Freedom' Showdown Brewing
Posted April 29, 2014 08:05 am
FCC Chairman Wheeler
TALAHASSEE, FL –Tens of thousands of people are signing petitions of protest about a plan being considered by the FCC, which would allow broadband Internet providers to give content providers, like Netflix or ESPN, faster download speeds for higher prices - prices that would no doubt be passed on to customers.
Norman Solomon, co-founder of the group RootsAction.org, says creating a "pay to play" system runs counter to what the Internet has been from the beginning.
Link:
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RootsAction
"We're basically telling the FCC that we need an open
Internet, that it shouldn't be payola, it shouldn't be
big corporations that have the money get to go in the
'fast lane' and people without the money have to chug
along in a big traffic jam on the Internet."
The FCC decision is expected on May 15, but chairman Tom
Wheeler has indicated he's leaning toward allowing an
Internet "fast lane." So, in the next two weeks, public
interest groups say they'll push back hard. A petition
by RootsAction.org
and the group Demand Progress got more than 40,000
signatures over the weekend.
Solomon says the disagreement is about a lot more than
who'll be able to stream movies faster. He sees it as a
fundamental matter of free speech: whether providers can
decide to limit some users' content, or at least, slow
it down.
"If we're going to have a meaningful First Amendment,
that means that we don't let these huge corporations sit
on the windpipe of that First Amendment," he said.
"You've got to have the free circulation of ideas and
information: that's really what this open Internet fight
is all about."
In January, more than one million people signed a
petition advocating a free and open Internet, and many
thought that would be enough to convince the five FCC
commissioners. And Solomon points out they could still
vote to protect "net neutrality."
"There still is a chance if there's enough pressure that
the Commission could rule that the Internet is basically
a public utility, by any other name, and therefore
should function in the public interest," he declared.
Link, photo, layout added by the Observer
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