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Net Neutrality Supporters Made History Last Week. Does Wheeler Care?
Amy Kroin
Net Neutrality supporters have filed a record-breaking number of comments on FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan to allow discrimination online.
The vast majority of the 1,067,779 comments slam that proposal — and urge the agency to protect real Net Neutrality.
But does Wheeler care what the public thinks?
“A lot of these comments are one paragraph, two paragraphs,” FCC Special Counsel Gigi Sohn told NPR. “They don’t have much substance beyond, you know, we want strong Net Neutrality.”
George Washington University Professor Richard Pierce went even further, telling NPR that “the vast majority of the comments are utterly worthless” — and that policymakers tend to favor the industries they’re supposed to regulate.
We won’t argue with the notion that the FCC is too cozy with companies; after all, the agency has a history of fulfilling corporate wish lists.
But here’s the rub: It’s not supposed to be that way.
One or two paragraphs calling for strong Net Neutrality rules aren’t “utterly worthless,” and these comments don’t lack substance. The FCC is supposed to serve the public interest. These comments make loud and clear what the public wants.
And there’s no universe in which Wheeler’s pay-to-play plan serves anyone but the Internet service providers jonesing to control the Internet. (It’s no coincidence that these ISPs are practically the only ones who think Wheeler’s proposal is the bee’s knees.)
In fact, the public’s support for Net Neutrality wasn’t the only thing that made last week historic. Senators spoke out. Former open Internet foes had achange of heart. Advocacy groups like Free Press and Voices for Internet Freedom filed comments skewering Wheeler’s plan. Latino leaders and five prominent organizations representing the Latino community pushed the FCCto preserve the Internet’s level playing field. And that’s on top of all thestartups, artists, public interest groups and tech giants telling the FCC to do the right thing.
Wheeler and his fellow commissioners need to get out of their Washington bubble. In fact, they should start holding public hearings on the chairman’s proposal. The public can’t match the ISPs’ financial power — these companies have already shelled out $42 million this year to lobby lawmakers and regulators — but we have a voice on the future of the Internet. We’re the ones who will suffer most if Net Neutrality is destroyed and ISPs are free to do whatever they want.
In the coming weeks Free Press will push the FCC to hold hearings around the country. Stay tuned, and click here for more details on what we’re calling the Summer to Save the Internet.
This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license.
Source: http://rinf.com/alt-news/sicence-technology/net-neutrality-supporters-made-history-last-week-wheeler-care/
