On January 14th, a U.S. appeals court took a drastic step toward limiting Americans' choices in Internet usage. In a case Verizon brought against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the D.C. Court of Appeals dismissed FCC policies designed to regulate Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
The FCC's "net neutrality" policy, adopted in 2010, compelled "broadband providers to treat all Internet traffic the same regardless of source." In other words, ISPs like Verizon and Comcast were not allowed to control users' Internet experience by making preferred sites faster, or slow down competitors of those preferred sites.
The court decision was that the FCC "failed to cite any statutory authority" justifying open network management practices. With this decision, net neutrality is now a thing of the past. ISPs are free to operate based on financial gain, not providing the best Internet service to their users. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, for instance, may now pay ISPs to increase the speed of their websites and decrease the speed of competitors such as Youtube.
Delara Derakhshani, a member of the Consumers Union policy, explained that this decision “leaves consumers at the mercy of a handful of cable and phone providers that can give preferential treatment to the content they profit from."
Sign this petition to voice your support of net neutrality! Speak up and let U.S. courts you do not want the Internet—a vast, valuable source of diverse content and information—dictated by big companies' financial interests!
