Last week, President Obama made it clear that he supports an open Internet and would be opposed to a system where discrimination that favors "big wealthy media companies" is the norm. He noted that strong open Internet protections are needed "so that the next Google or the next Facebook can succeed." A diverse group of public interest organizations, startups, and associations including the Open Technology Institute joined together and sent a letter thanking the President for his support.
Clearly, the chorus of voices in favor of strong open Internet rules is growing louder every day. Yesterday The New York Times editorial board weighed in, urging the Federal Communications Commission to listen to President Obama's message and implement strong open Internet rules by reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service.
Below is the full text of the letter sent to President Obama last week:
Mr. President:
Earlier this week, you made a strong statement in support of Net Neutrality by saying:
"One of the issues around Net Neutrality is whether you are creating different rates or charges for different content providers. That's the big controversy here. So you have big, wealthy media companies who might be willing to pay more and also charge more for spectrum, more bandwidth on the Internet so they can stream movies faster.
"I personally, the position of my administration, as well as a lot of the companies here, is that you don't want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to different users. You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook can succeed."
We want to thank you for making your support for Net Neutrality clear and we are counting on you to take action to ensure equality on the Internet. A level playing field has been vital for innovation, opportunity and freedom of expression, and we agree that the next big thing will not succeed without it. We need to avoid a future with Internet slow lanes for everybody except for a few large corporations who can pay for faster service.
Like you, we believe in preserving an open Internet, where Internet service providers treat data equally, regardless of who is creating it and who is receiving it. Your vision of Net Neutrality is fundamentally incompatible with FCC's plan, which would explicitly allow for paid prioritization. The only way for the FCC to truly protect an open Internet is by using its clear Title II authority. Over the next few months, we need your continued and vocal support for fair and meaningful Net Neutrality rules. Our organizations will continue to pressure the FCC to put forth solidly based rules, and will continue to encourage you and other elected officials to join us in doing so.
Thank you again for standing up for the open Internet so that small businesses and people everywhere have a fair shot.
Signed,
ACLU Center for Media Justice ColorOfChange Common Cause Consumers Union CREDO Action Daily Kos Demand Progress Democracy for America Electronic Frontier Foundation Engine Etsy EveryLibrary Fandor Fight for the Future Free Press Action Fund Greenpeace Kickstarter Louder Media Action Grassroots Network Media Alliance Media Mobilizing Project MoveOn.org Mozilla National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture National Hispanic Media Coalition New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute OpenMedia International Presente.org Progressives United Public Knowledge reddit Student Net Alliance SumOfUs ThoughtWorks Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Women's Media Center
