Broadband Access

The FCC has delivered a powerful one-two punch for Internet users and for the kind of open, robust debate that is vital to a successful democracy. Thanks to today’s action on net neutrality, candidates of every party and advocates of every cause can be assured of equal access to our electronic town square. And because the commission has moved to protect the development of community-owned broadband networks, commercial Internet service providers have a powerful new incentive to offer fast, reliable service at a reasonable cost.

Chairman Tom Wheeler said it best at last week’s historic FCC meeting: “The Internet is simply too important to allow broadband providers to be the ones making the rules.” Amen.

It’s now a two-front people’s crusade to prevent gatekeepers from wresting control of our nation’s communications ecosystem.

But, 13 years later, a spirit of redemption is in the air. Last week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler moved boldly to correct the bizarre classification rulings of his predecessors. He put forward a plan that would bring broadband providers clearly under the consumer-empowering provisions of Title II of the Telecommunications Act. Title II is where consumer protections, universal service, privacy, disability rights, and other important safeguards are housed.

By now, you've heard the news: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced its Open Internet ("net neutrality") rules. The FCC is poised to vote the strongest possible net neutrality protections into law.

The large broadband providers say that they support net neutrality in the same way that we all support baseball and apple pie, but the devil's in the details.