S.J.Res.52 - Restoring Internet Freedom (Net Neutrality)
S.J.Res.52 - Restoring Internet Freedom (Net Neutrality)
The Senate just passed S.J.Res.52 to roll back a Federal Communications Commission plan to fully dismantle the Obama-era net neutrality regulations. Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, or application.
For Net Neutrality:
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH)
“I am furious to learn that President Trump’s hand-picked FCC chairman will overturn net neutrality, taking away Americans’ right to a free and open internet. With this decision, internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Time Warner Cable will now have the power to dictate the speed of websites, charge higher fees to access certain websites, and prioritize their own services over those of their competitors. Before the net neutrality rules were made in 2015, more than 4 million Americans weighed in on the proposal and voiced their strong support for net neutrality.
Classifying the internet as a utility helps low-income communities gain equal access to broadband services that help plug disconnected communities back into our economy. It allows the creation of stronger rules and regulations to ban paid prioritization of content and services across all internet platforms--including mobile broadband, which makes up 63% of all usage. The internet is an indispensable part of American life and it should be classified in a way that reflects the world we live in today."
Against Net Neutrality:
FCC Press Release: Restoring Internet Freedom
The FCC has proposed to return the U.S. to the bipartisan, light-touch regulatory framework under which a free and open Internet flourished for almost 20 years. The FCC's May 2017 proposal to roll back the prior Administration's heavy-handed Internet regulation strives to advance the FCC's critical work to promote broadband deployment in rural America and infrastructure investment throughout the nation, to brighten the future of innovation both within networks and at their edge, and to close the digital divide.
The FCC has proposed returning to the longstanding light-touch regulatory framework for the Internet and restoring the market-based policies necessary to preserve the future of Internet Freedom. Specifically, the FCC has proposed to:
- Reinstate the "information service" classification of broadband Internet access service first established on a bipartisan basis during the Clinton Administration.
- Restore the determination that mobile broadband is not a "commercial mobile service" subject to heavy-handed regulation.
- Restore the authority of the nation's most experienced cop on the privacy beat – the Federal Trade Commission – to police the privacy practices of ISPs.
