AT&T Wants Congress to Pass Net Neutrality Laws
Jan 24, 2018, 9:35 AM by Eric M. Zeman
AT&T today claimed in full-page newspaper advertisements published around the country that it wants Congress to take charge of net neutrality. The company suggests an "internet bill of rights" is in order. "It is time for Congress to end the debate once and for all, by writing new laws that govern the internet and protect consumers," said AT&T. The company claims it "is committed to an open internet. We don’t block websites. We don’t censor online content. And we don’t throttle, discriminate, or degrade network performance based on content. Period." The company goes on to say this bill of rights should apply to all internet companies and guarantee neutrality, transparency, openness, and privacy protection for users. AT&T said it will work with Congress in order to make such a bill of rights a reality. Evan Greer, marketing director of Fight the Future, points out that AT&T spent more than $16 million in 2017 lobbying to kill the FCC's net neutrality regulations. "We had an Internet bill of rights," said Greer. "It was called Title II, and AT&T's army of lobbyists did everything in their power to burn it down." A number of Senators have already said they'll propose net neutrality. They have 50 signed on and need one more in order to bring the legislation in front of the Senate. In the House, some 110 Representatives back similar legislation. The FCC's work to undo net neutrality is being fought on many fronts. For example, the agency is being sued by civil rights groups, state attorneys general are battling the agency, and a handful of governors are weighing state-level net neutrality laws. The FCC voted to reverse the Obama-era net neutrality rules in a vote last December, despite public outcry.
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Comments
Very telling......
