Beyond the Beltway: Net Neutrality Support is Stronger Than Ever

The results are in at the Federal Communications Commission. Tens of thousands of public comments supporting Net Neutrality flooded the agency before they closed their official inquiry on Monday.

In a landslide of public support, well over 95 percent of the comments called for rules that prohibit phone and cable companies from seeing through their plans to become the new gatekeepers to the Internet -- deciding which Web sites and services users get to download before others.

Kevin Martin. Are You Listening?

Internet users from all 435 congressional districts urged the FCC to protect our Internet freedom. Net Neutrality supporters include a full range of small business owners, students, churchgoers, bloggers, political candidates, educators and activists who took the time to tell the agency that protecting Net Neutrality is fundamental to their family life, work and interests.

Our Internet Runs on Neutral

"I am living the American dream because of Network Neutrality -- my games have been used in thousands of schools all over the world," says Karen Chun, a single mother and owner of a successful online educational games business. "Without Net Neutrality, my little Web site would have been consigned to oblivion because I wouldn't have been able to pay the fees the ISPs want to charge."

Kelly Jones of Portland, Ore., told the FCC that "corporations are not, and have never been, qualified as gatekeepers to American communication and growth. If the FCC believes in true democracy, it must ensure that broadband providers do not block, interfere with or discriminate against any lawful Internet traffic based on its ownership, source or destination."

Take Note Chairman Martin

Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- co-sponsors of the bipartisan "Internet Freedom Preservation Act" -- sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin urging the FCC to reinstate Net Neutrality rules.

"We see that thousands of people have submitted comments describing how a free and open Internet benefits consumers and telling you the discriminatory practices planned by their Internet service providers would substantially harm their online experience," Dorgan and Snowe wrote the chairman. "We hope you take note of these thousands of public comments urging you to protect Internet freedom."

Since 2005, when the FCC removed Net Neutrality protections from the books, the heads of the biggest phone and cable companies have repeatedly stated plans to discriminate against Web sites that don't pay their added tolls for access.

A Public Landslide

The Commission opened its Net Neutrality inquiry in March, asking for comment on why keeping the Internet neutral is important; how phone and cable company efforts to discriminate against content online affect everyday lives; and whether the agency should enforce rules that would prohibit such discrimination.

For every single comment opposing Net Neutrality there were more than 20 calling upon the agency to enforce rules that would stop the telcos' gatekeeper plans. Let's put this into perspective: Were this a presidential campaign, one candidate would have carried at least 47 states.

An outpouring like that doesn't raise questions about where the nation stands on an issue. The FCC's job is to protect the public good -- and the public is saying decisively that we want Net Neutrality.

Once again, people have sent a clear mandate to Washington. Internet users want competitive and affordable services. They don't want phone and cable companies to manipulate the free flow of information and distort the Web's level playing field.

When will the FCC listen to people beyond the Beltway and enforce full Net Neutrality?

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