- BY CHLOE ALBANESIUS
- MAY 8, 2014
A coalition of top Internet firms - from Google and Amazon to Facebook and Twitter - penned a letter to the FCC this week to express concern with the commission's proposed net neutrality rules.
"According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them. If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet," they wrote.
The firms argued that their success occurred "in a world without discrimination. An open Internet has also been a platform for free speech and opportunity for billions of users."
They asked the FCC to protect users on fixed and mobile networks against blocking, discrimination, and paid prioritization.
Other firms that signed the letter include Cogent, Dropbox, eBay, Etsy, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Level 3, LinkedIn, Lyft, Microsoft, Netflix, Reddit, Tumblr, Vonage, Yahoo, and Zynga, as well as several dozen smaller Internet companies and sites.
The letter came the same day that Sen. Al Franken argued that net neutrality is the "free speech issue of our time," and urged supporters to "rise up" against the FCC's proposed net neutrality rules.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has insisted that his rules will not allow for Internet discrimination, and said they are a work in progress.
But it seems he faces some opposition within his own commission. Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said this week the FCC should just leave the issue alone and let the market handle it. Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, meanwhile, believes the FCC should delay its planned May 15 vote on the rules by at least a month.
"While I recognize the urgency to move ahead and develop rules with dispatch, I think the greater urgency comes in giving the American public opportunity to speak right now, before we head down this road," she said in a Wednesday speech.
For more, see Net Neutrality: What's Really Happening?
Also watch PCMag Live in the video below, which discusses the continued fight over net neutrality.
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