Net Neutrality

Dear Friends,

 A couple of days ago President Obama made a very strong statement in favor of net neutrality.  You can read the entire statement here.  The crux of the issue is how broadband services should be regulated.  President Obama has made it clear that they should be treated like telephone services.

So the time has come for the FCC to recognize that broadband service is of the same importance and must carry the same obligations as so many of the other vital services do. To do that, I believe the FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services. This is a basic acknowledgment of the services ISPs provide to American homes and businesses, and the straightforward obligations necessary to ensure the network works for everyone — not just one or two companies.

I am delighted that President Obama has chosen to speak out on this critical issue to the future of the internet.  A free and open internet is essential to maintaining it as a critical element in our lives and in the development and communication of ideas.  Big corporations that essentially have a monopoly should not be able to decide which ideas and speech goes in a fast lane and which ideas and speech are either blocked or relegated to a slow lane.

Strong rules on net neutrality could be a wonderful legacy of President Obama's presidency.  We need to thank him for taking such a strong stand on this issue and for speaking out publicly.  Unfortunately, one statement no matter how strong or well constructed will carry the day.  There are very strong forces that would like to let the ISPs govern.  Ted Cruz has compared net neutrality to Obamacare, saying that the internet should not go at the speed of government.  Ted Cruz is an extremist and is really just against net neutrality because he is against anything that President Obama is for.  However, in addition to Senator Cruz, the ISPs (think Comcast, ATT, Time Warner) are opposed to true net neutrality because they stand to make a lot of money selling faster service to Netflix, etc. and controlling whose ideas and content get to the public.  As a result, we also need to encourage President Obama to continue to speak out for net neutrality.

Please join me in thanking President Obama and asking him to keep speaking out on this issue (here) and also in writing to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler (who is not really a supporter of net neutrality) to voice your support of net neutrality (here) because if you don't you may have real difficulty in doing so once Comcast and ATT are making up the rules.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal