Consumer advocates and content providers applaud decision
Today, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to regulate Internet Service Providers. Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Doug Collins, who introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives last year to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality rule, issued the following statement on the ruling:
“We can’t regulate our way to new innovation, and restrict the development of technology in the marketplace. The FCC’s rule is overreaching and unnecessary, which I why I previously introduced a resolution to stop this rule that would slow Internet speeds, increase consumer prices and hamper infrastructure development, including in Northeast Georgia.”
Collins calls the ruling a “blow to internet freedom, and Congressional authority.” Supporters disagree.
In a statement issued after the ruling, F.C.C. Chairman Tom Wheeler said, “After a decade of debate and legal battles, today’s ruling affirms the commission’s ability to enforce the strongest possible internet protections — both on fixed and mobile networks — that will ensure the internet remains open, now and in the future.”
The 2-1 decision by a 3-judge panel upholds net neutrality rules which prohibit broadband companies from blocking or slowing the delivery of Internet content to consumers.
Google and Netflix support net neutrality, warning that without it, broadband providers could degrade the quality of downloads and streams of online services to extract tolls from web companies or to unfairly promote their own competing services or content from partners.
“This is an enormous win for consumers,” said Gene Kimmelman, president of the public interest group Public Knowledge. “It ensures the right to an open internet with no gatekeepers.”
