Public Interest Groups support Chairman Genachowski's Open Internet Proposal
Civil rights, labor, and consumer groups issued statements of support for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's recent announcement. Genachowski is planning to pursue a Network Neutrality Order under a Title I framework in order to ensure an open Internet. We include a sampling of the statements:
Communications Workers of America President Larry Cohen supported Chairman Genachowski's statement earlier this week.
The NAACP issued this statement:
As our nation's oldest and largest grassroots based civil rights organization, the NAACP is encouraged by FCC Chairman Genachowski's remarks concerning the proposal that reflect the FCC's desire to promote rules that safeguard the civil rights, free speech and economic opportunity for our nation's most vulnerable...We believe that the FCC's proposal will help foster equal access to affordable and sustainable broadband and stimulate job creation in all communities, including underserved, rural, low-income and, racial and ethnic minority communities.
The President and Co-Founder of Public Knowledge Gigi Sohn praised the announcement:
We commend the Federal Communications Commission for tentatively putting open Internet rules on the agenda for the Dec. 21 Commission meeting and for, we expect, circulating a draft order. As Comcast's recent actions have shown, such rules are urgently needed.
Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League supported the Chairman's initiative:
Our communities' ability to access the news, civic, employment, educational and financial information and services available on the internet is critical to achieving our mission of economic empowerment and equality.
We also strongly urge the FCC to adopt strong, enforceable provisions to insure that minority and women owned businesses and workers are afforded meaningful opportunities to participate in the expansion, deployment and buildout of the broadband system in the United States. The National Urban League will advocate for such provisions in any final rule to be adopted by the FCC, and for long-overdue reform of the Universal Service Fund.
In their statement, the Center for Democracy and Technology said:
We commend Chairman Genachowski for recognizing that the time to act is now. The Internet is and should remain a medium that is open to innovation, not one where big network operators get to pick winners and losers. This rulemaking is about preserving the characteristics that have made the Internet such an overwhelming success. It is a first step but a critical one.
Parul Desai, Policy Counsel for Consumers Union, said:
Internet users have been in limbo over the past few years as the FCC and Congress grappled with keeping the Internet open to all. This is important because consumers should be able to surf the web without their Internet provider limiting their choices to its preferred sites. Today's announcement is welcome news. This is just the beginning of the process, and we're eager to work with the FCC in establishing viable and sensible rules that will bring clarity and certainty to consumers.
Mark Cooper, Research Director for the Consumer Federation of America released a statement, saying:
The only way to preserve the open Internet is for the FCC to immediately put in place a pragmatic set of rules that gives teeth to the principles that have governed the open Internet since its inception. We need to establish facts on the ground and gain practical experience with network management in the broadband era. Ultimately, the devil will be in the details of the final order, but the FCC appears headed toward the right goal.
The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement issued the following statement:
As stakeholders in our nation's broadband future, we thank the Commission for its work over the last year to engage discussion and seek input as it worked to develop a middle ground net neutrality policy solution. LCLAA believes that the framework Chairman Genachowski outlined in his press conference today reflects the diversity of voices that shared their concerns during this process, and we look forward to working with the FCC to ensure all communities are well served with this approach.
Alliance for Digital Equality Senior Advisor Shirley Franklin said:
Today ADE commends the FCC for embracing this spirit, rejecting partisan bickering and choosing mainstream compromise over extreme action in the debate over net neutrality. Today's announcement shows that thoughtful debate on policy can lead to solutions that uphold our commitment to preserving the open Internet while maintaining a focus on the priorities of the American people: restoration of our economy and a solution to creating jobs.
In his statement, Minority Media and Telecommunications Council President and Executive Director David Honig said:
MMTC has never been a fan of rigid net neutrality rules. However, given the FCC's desire to put rules in place, we think it has found a reasonable path forward. And it appears to have done that through a regulatory structure flexible enough to stimulate the investments and create the jobs that will ensure that the Internet is both open and ubiquitous.
One-third of Americans are not yet online, and today the FCC has responded to this issue. As it did in its magnificent National Broadband Plan this March, the FCC has made universal broadband access and adoption - and closing the digital divide - the nation's highest telecom policy priorities. This is appropriate and laudable.
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MMTC Statement on Open Internet - Decemeber 1, 2010 (Minority Media and Telecom Council)
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