Press Release
FCC Chimes In on Net Neutrality
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced an inquiry into Net Neutrality -- the fundamental Internet principle that prevents phone and cable companies from discriminating against Web sites and services based on their source, ownership or destination.
Frannie Wellings, associate policy director of Free Press, which coordinates the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, made the following statement:
"We welcome this public conversation over what the future of the Internet should look like. Small businesses, bloggers, hundreds of groups from across the political spectrum, the founders of the Internet and the World Wide Web, and millions of concerned citizens want Net Neutrality reinstated so that the Internet remains a vibrant, open environment for free speech, democratic participation and economic innovation. Millions more will join them as they learn about what's at stake: the free and open Internet as we know it.
"If FCC Chairman Kevin Martin or any of his colleagues has any doubt about whether this threat to the Internet is real, they need look no further than the statements made by the heads of the nation's biggest telephone and cable companies. They've announced their plans to discriminate, to put toll booths on the information superhighway. We take them at their word. But their vision for the future of the Internet is not one shared by most Americans. It's these everyday Internet users, business entrepreneurs and technological innovators who are asking the FCC to keep the Internet open and competitive so we can all share in its promise."
Frannie Wellings, associate policy director of Free Press, which coordinates the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, made the following statement:
"We welcome this public conversation over what the future of the Internet should look like. Small businesses, bloggers, hundreds of groups from across the political spectrum, the founders of the Internet and the World Wide Web, and millions of concerned citizens want Net Neutrality reinstated so that the Internet remains a vibrant, open environment for free speech, democratic participation and economic innovation. Millions more will join them as they learn about what's at stake: the free and open Internet as we know it.
"If FCC Chairman Kevin Martin or any of his colleagues has any doubt about whether this threat to the Internet is real, they need look no further than the statements made by the heads of the nation's biggest telephone and cable companies. They've announced their plans to discriminate, to put toll booths on the information superhighway. We take them at their word. But their vision for the future of the Internet is not one shared by most Americans. It's these everyday Internet users, business entrepreneurs and technological innovators who are asking the FCC to keep the Internet open and competitive so we can all share in its promise."
