I’m calling on the FCC to stand up for net neutrality and safeguard
Title II protections. I stand with the millions of other Internet
users who’ve urged the Commission to keep important net neutrality
protections intact. The FCC should reject Chairman Ajit Pai’s
proposal to hand the government-subsidized ISP monopolies like
Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon the authority to engage in data
discrimination, stripping users of the necessary privacy and access
protections we worked for and so recently won. I’m afraid of a
“pay-to-play” Internet where ISPs can charge more for certain
websites because users will have fewer options and a less diverse
internet. The internet giants of today (Google, Facebook, Netflix,
etc) could never have gotten started in a "pay-to-play" environment
where ISPs pushed and promoted their own content to their users at
the detriment of startups. Our current Open Internet rules mean
that ISP monopolies can’t block or slow customers’ ability to see
certain web services or engage in data discrimination by charging
websites and online services more money to reach people faster.
That’s the best way forward to make sure competition in the Internet
space is fair and benefits small businesses and Internet users as
well as entrenched Internet companies. Chairman Pai’s proposed
repeal of the rules would help turn ISPs into Internet gatekeepers
with an effective veto right on expression and innovation. That’s
contrary to the basic precepts on which the Internet was built.