After a last minute extension last week, the FCC has finally stopped taking comments regarding the controversial net neutrality proposal. We don’t know what effect over 1 million comments will have on the decision, but we do know what the public is saying: fast lanes are not acceptable and corporations shouldn’t control access to the Internet.
But those corporations are fighting back. With “comments” stretching over 100 pages long in some cases, several major companies, including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, all had their say on the FCC website. Kate Cox at Consumerist collected some of the key quotes from their novel-length comments regarding net neutrality and Title II regulation which you can read below.
AT&T
“Calls to use this proceeding to impose a host of additional regulatory controls on broadband Internet access providers should be firmly rejected, particularly because the record is devoid of evidence of any actual threat to Internet openness that could possibly warrant heavy-handed regulation.”
Verizon
“The arcane regulatory framework embodied in Title II was crafted for 19th century railroad monopolies and the early 20th century one-wire telephone world. The price and service regulation inherent in Title II have no place in today’s fast-paced and competitive Internet marketplace, and the threats posed by this approach would not likely be confined to broadband providers but would spread inevitably to other Internet sectors.”
Comcast
“Relying on [section 706] authority the Commission should reaffirm the importance of its transparency framework, reinstate a ‘no blocking’ rule with a revised legal rationale, and establish a ‘commercial reasonableness’ standard to govern direct commercial relationships between broadband providers and edge providers relating to the transmission of Internet traffic over broadband Internet access service. Following this path will enable the Commission to build confidence across the Internet ecosystem and strengthen the ‘virtuous circle’ that has produced
abundant benefits for consumers, businesses, and the economy as a whole.”
Other advocacy groups, such as the ACLU and Common Cause, are doing what they can to reflect the voice of the public, but there’s no telling whether our voices will be heard over the booming shout of the Internet providers.
