Common Cause Urges FCC to Reclassify Broadband and Protect Open Internet

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should provide consumers the maximum protection possible by reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service, Common Cause said Wednesday.

This morning FCC chairman Tom Wheeler announced plans to solicit public comment on how best to ensure Open Internet (“net neutrality”) protections in light of a recent appeals court decision striking down the commission’s 2010 Open Internet Order.

“I welcome Chairman Wheeler’s prompt response to the court’s recent decision on the Open Internet, and I am pleased at the opening of a docket to encourage wide public input into this critically-important issue,” said Michael Copps, a former FCC Commissioner now serving as special adviser to Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative.

“I continue to believe that Title II reclassification is, by far, the surest and best way to guarantee consumer protections and free speech online. I hope the Commission will get there soon,” Copps said.

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to restoring the core values of American democracy, reinventing an open, honest, and accountable government that works for the public interest, and empowering ordinary people to make their voices heard.