Net neutrality advocates plan legal action to thwart FCC
08 Dec 2017
With only a week left till the FCC is expected to scrap net neutrality protections, protests planned for the day of the vote are not likely to change the expected outcome, in view of the majority Republican support in the commission (See: FCC's Ajit Pai set to dismantle Obama-era net neutrality rules)
''Right now we're at the point of litigation, not legislation,'' said senator Ed Markey, Democrat-Massachusetts, during a press conference call on Wednesday.
Markey added that he and representative Anna Eshoo, the Silicon Valley congresswoman, plan to sign on to an amicus brief in defence of net neutrality rules.
According to Eshoo, the few Republicans who had indicated they wanted to craft legislation to protect net neutrality are being disingenuous.
''Legislation on what?'' she said. ''It's a ruse. They don't want a cop on the beat.''
FCC chairman Ajit Pai's draft order, titled ''Restoring Internet Freedom,'' aims to make the Federal Trade Commission enforce the rules. The FTC's acting chair, Maureen K Ohlhausen, recently said her agency is ready to be that cop on the beat.
''The FTC has regularly addressed the kinds of anticompetitive behaviours that concern net neutrality advocates,'' she said during a speech last week.
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in front of Verizon stores around the US yesterday in a last-ditch effort to save Obama-era net neutrality rules.
The protests were organised by a number of advocacy groups, including Fight for the Future, to pressure Republicans in Congress to stop the FCC from rolling back the controversial rules adopted in 2015 under president Barack Obama.
The proposed changes will strip the FCC of authority to regulate broadband networks. The regulation of the internet will be entrusted to another federal agency, the Federal Trade Commission.
At a rally in New York City, protesters held signs outsider the Verizon store near Bryant Park that said "Net Neutrality is Freedom of Speech" and "Keep the Internet Free." There were also posts on social media using the hashtag #StoptheFCC.
