President Obama is imploring the FCC to adopt the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality, which is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. In line with that, the president said he supports reclassification of broadband as a common carrier, similar to how telephone companies are regulated.
The statement released today mentions that Obama had vowed support for net neutrality during his presidential campaign. Since then, courts have ruled against the Federal Communications Commission s attempts to enforce net neutrality rules. Now the FCC is considering regulations that would effectively officially allow the creation of slow and fast lanes on the Internet, a plan that has drawn a record number of comments — from millions of people.
We cannot allow Internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas, the president s statement reads. The principles he calls for: increased transparency, no blocking, no throttling and no paid prioritization.
To help fulfill the wish list above, Obama is calling for the reclassification of broadband Internet under Title II of the Telecommunications Act: 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.
As we ve written, tech companies are divided on Title II; some of them say the regulations that would be imposed after reclassification would hinder innovation. To that, the president says: Network investment remained strong under the previous net neutrality regime, before it was struck down by the court; in fact, the court agreed that protecting net neutrality helps foster more investment and innovation.
Reaction is coming quickly from both sides of the debate.
Thank you, Mr. President, said Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner who s now an adviser to Common Cause s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. And thanks to the millions of Americans who helped make this happen. As someone who has been pushing for Title II since 2002, when the FCC wrongly classified broadband, I am thrilled. Now the FCC must show the same kind of leadership and courage.
Obama s statement is simply a cynical political ploy, a way of playing to activists on the radical Left who have built mailing lists and a political movement on the most absolutist conception of net neutrality, reads a statement from think tank TechFreedom, which says Title II would raise a host of other problems, including choking broadband competition, inviting regulation of the rest of the Internet.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had indicated plans to finalize the rules by the end of the year, but it s unclear whether that will happen.
Photo: In this May 15, 2014 file photo, protesters hold a rally at the FCC offices in Washington, D.C., to support net neutrality. In a statement issued Monday, President Obama said he wants the FCC to adopt the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)
