Press Release
FCC Debates Open Internet at April 17 Stanford Hearing
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
Today, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it will hold a second public hearing on the future of the Internet on April 17 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
The Stanford hearing promises to bring consumers and producers of innovative online content together to educate the FCC about the future of video on the Internet. The field hearing is also linked to the FCC's ongoing investigation into the blocking of legal content by Comcast and other Internet service providers. At the first hearing last month at Harvard, Comcast admitted hiring seat-fillers, blocking interested citizens from attending the event.
Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, which coordinates the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, issued the following statement: "Just as the Internet benefited from widespread public participation, so will the debate over its future. The hearing at Stanford -- the birthplace of our Internet economy -- gives Web innovators a chance to weigh in on the policies that will shape the industry for a generation.
"We look forward to working with the FCC to ensure that all interested parties are accommodated. With the future of the Internet at stake, no one should be shut out of the conversation.
"At this defining moment in the Internet's history, the threat posed by would-be gatekeepers like Comcast is very real and getting worse. Open Internet policies are urgently needed. We hope this important hearing will lead to immediate and accelerated action at the FCC."
Read the FCC's announcement: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280895A1.pdf .
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The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is a grassroots, nonpartisan alliance of hundreds of groups, thousands of bloggers, and more than 1.6 million concerned Americans who have joined together to protect Internet freedom and Network Neutrality. No corporation or political party funds the coalition. Statements by the SavetheInternet.com Coalition are not necessarily endorsed by every participating organization. Learn more at www.SavetheInternet.com
The Stanford hearing promises to bring consumers and producers of innovative online content together to educate the FCC about the future of video on the Internet. The field hearing is also linked to the FCC's ongoing investigation into the blocking of legal content by Comcast and other Internet service providers. At the first hearing last month at Harvard, Comcast admitted hiring seat-fillers, blocking interested citizens from attending the event.
Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, which coordinates the SavetheInternet.com Coalition, issued the following statement: "Just as the Internet benefited from widespread public participation, so will the debate over its future. The hearing at Stanford -- the birthplace of our Internet economy -- gives Web innovators a chance to weigh in on the policies that will shape the industry for a generation.
"We look forward to working with the FCC to ensure that all interested parties are accommodated. With the future of the Internet at stake, no one should be shut out of the conversation.
"At this defining moment in the Internet's history, the threat posed by would-be gatekeepers like Comcast is very real and getting worse. Open Internet policies are urgently needed. We hope this important hearing will lead to immediate and accelerated action at the FCC."
Read the FCC's announcement: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280895A1.pdf .
###
The SavetheInternet.com Coalition is a grassroots, nonpartisan alliance of hundreds of groups, thousands of bloggers, and more than 1.6 million concerned Americans who have joined together to protect Internet freedom and Network Neutrality. No corporation or political party funds the coalition. Statements by the SavetheInternet.com Coalition are not necessarily endorsed by every participating organization. Learn more at www.SavetheInternet.com
