05.08.14

Cantwell Statement on Reports of New FCC Net Neutrality Rules

Cantwell: ‘This misguided proposal could mean the end of the Internet as we know it’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement regarding news reports that the Federal Communications Commission will propose new rules that would allow companies to pay for faster delivery of Internet content.

“I am very concerned about press reports today that the FCC is considering allowing high-profit Internet providers to pay, with revenues from their subscribers, for faster service,” Cantwell said. “This misguided proposal could mean the end of the Internet as we know it. The Internet is a bedrock component of the 21st Century innovation economy and we must continue to fight hard for a level playing field.  We cannot allow the Internet to be segregated between Lexus lanes for the affluent and dirt roads for those with less money.”

As a senior member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Cantwell has been a leader in the fight for strong net neutrality rules. On January 25, 2011, Cantwell and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act of 2011 to ensure the broadband Internet continues to serve as a source of innovation, free speech, and job growth.

Cantwell and Franken’s Internet Freedom, Broadband Promotion, and Consumer Protection Act would have created a new section in Title II of the Communications Act by codifying the six net neutrality principles in the FCC’s November 2009 Notice of Proposed Rule Making for preserving the open Internet. Additionally, the legislation would have prohibited broadband operators from requiring content, service, or application providers to pay for prioritized delivery of their Internet Protocol (IP) packets, also known as pay-for priority.

In November 2011, Cantwell took to the Senate floor to defend net neutrality protections and argue against a proposed resolution that would have weakened the FCC’s rules. The FCC rules on preserving the open Internet were finalized and released in December 2010.

 

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