Goodbye Open Internet?: Verizon Backs Legal War with Political Cash

This Common Cause report explains that ‘Verizon Communications, one of the world’s most powerful communications companies, is waging a high-stakes, multi-million dollar campaign in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission for control of the internet’s future.’

The company, which provides wireless services to nearly 100 million Americans, wants authority to censor websites that conflict with its business interests and to impose special fees on customers who use particular web applications or whose web surfing takes them to popular sites like YouTube, Amazon, and Facebook.

With a court in Washington set to hear arguments this fall in a Verizon-filed case that could uphold or cripple the open internet, Verizon is preparing for every contingency. While pursuing the lawsuit, the company is spending millions to build its political influence with Congress, the Obama Administration and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Verizon’s plan? Tilt the playing field to secure corporate control over the Internet whatever the court ultimately decides.