In response to millions of complaints and a string of legal defeats, the Federal Communications Commission is currently working on a so-called ‘hybrid’ solution to the net neutrality debate. But just because the FCC is redrafting their controversial proposal doesn’t mean it’ll actually be a compromise—and that’s where you come in, fair Internet user.
Digital advocacy group Fight for the Future is orchestrating protests today to coincide with an apparent leak of the FCC’s ‘hybrid’ proposal. If you’ve got a vested interest in the future of the Internet (which, as a blog-reader, you presumably do) you can take a stand right now outside the White House and in dozens of cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Evan of Fight for the Future explains:
What President Obama’s FCC chair is reportedly pushing is not a compromise, it’s a sham. Nearly four million internet users submitted comments to the FCC against having fast and slow lanes on the internet, but this proposal explicitly opens the door for them. Worse, it’s based in overly complicated and untested legal theories that are likely to fail in court.
[…] We’re taking a tip from the successful uprising against an unfair Internet Tax in Hungary. We’ll be gathering outside government buildings and hold our glowing cell phones, laptops, and tablets aloft as a symbol of protest, and to shine light on the corruption in DC that threatens our most basic rights as Internet users.
The FCC is finalizing their decision RIGHT NOW. It’s essential that respond quickly and powerfully. See you there!
The “compromise” proposal has yet to be published but may be presented on the 11th of December. According to The Guardian, “media leaks and discussions with interested parties” reveal that, as it stands now, the new guidelines would expand the FCC’s control over broadband regulation and allow cable providers to charge for Internet fast lanes.
You can find a protest near you or organize one here.
(via Boing Boing)
- Read the FCC’s earlier proposal for yourself
- Vihart explains the history of the net neutrality debate
- FCC asks for the Internet’s help parsing 2.5 million net neutrality comments
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