Earlier this month, Federal Communication Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler revealed his latest plan for net neutrality, by taking the position endorsed by the President: to regulate broadband as a utility.
There are big names on both sides of the issue, and one major player just came out in favor of the proposal: Twitter, which endorsed Wheeler’s idea in a blog post on Monday.
“Safeguarding the historic open architecture of the Internet and the ability for all users to ‘innovate without permission’ is critical to American economic aspirations and our nation’s global competitiveness. These rules also have important implications for freedom of expression,” the company wrote.
“This openness promotes free and fair competition and fosters ongoing investment and innovation. We need clear, enforceable, legally sustainable rules to ensure that the Internet remains open and continues to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”
Ultimately, the company said, such free speech “is the heart of Twitter,” and without net neutrality “some of today’s most successful and widely-known Internet companies might never have come into existence.”
The company also noted that it had previously expressed support for net neutrality through participation in the Internet Association,
What Wheeler is proposing, and the FCC is set to vote on, is the idea of regulating broadband under Title II of the Communications Act, which is what it currently uses to regulate the phone industry.
Doing so would “ban paid prioritization, and the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services,” which would effectively make the use of “fast-lanes” illegal,” Wheeler said when first announcing his intentions.
In addition, he said it would give consumers protection from broadband operators who may not be put the best interests of the public ahead of their own business interests.
“We strongly support ensuring that such rules include prohibitions against blocking or throttling of sites and services as well as the paid prioritization of some traffic over others. These rules should govern Internet service whether users are at their desk at home or on their smartphone across town,” Twitter said of the idea, praising the FCC for using a “light touch” and for advocating for “smart Internet policies.”
“In moving forward, the FCC is also wisely avoiding unnecessary and overly burdensome regulation. The Commission is embracing the same kind of “light touch” regulatory approach that the Congress and the Commission has pursued with respect to wireless services since the 1990s,” said Twitter.
“We’re also pleased that in recent weeks on Capitol Hill, we’ve seen a return to bipartisan support for net neutrality rules. We welcome the discussion of possible statutory rules that could codify these principles.”
This idea is not without its detractors, of course, notably including some of the broadband operators, including AT&T, which wrote a blog post arguing against Wheeler’s proposal before it was even official.
Dallas Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban also came out as a high profile advocate against net neutrality, using some mighty colorful language to describe what he believe will happen if it goes through. Thereaction to Cuban’s comments from those on social media were harsh, to say the least.
The FCC is set to officially vote on the proposal on Thursday of this week.
(Image source: savetheinternet.com)
