October 2, 2024

Internet Freedom? Not If Senator Fischer has the Last Word

The principle behind net neutrality is quite simple and straightforward. It’s that all internet service providers (ISPs) must treat all internet communications equally, offering users and online content providers consistent transfer speeds regardless of content, website, application, platform, type of equipment, source address, destination address, or method of communication and without price discrimination. In our digital world, we can’t have fast lanes and slow lanes when it comes to the ability of people to access something as important as the internet. This is why both under President Obama and President Biden, the Federal Communications Commission has voted to reclassify broadband as a public utility, such as water and electricity. Because the government deems internet access an essential service, the FCC has promised oversight as if broadband were a public utility. In doing so, the government aims to make providers more accountable for outages, require more robust network security, protect fast speeds, and require greater protections for consumer data. But the Big Telecomms have consistently fought net neutrality going back to the first FCC vote in 2015. Cox Enterprises, the nation’s third-largest cable company, called the FCC’s action “unnecessary government overreach.” According to www.opensecrets.org, over Sen. Fischer’s entire Senate career, Cox Enterprises has ponied up $59,500 in campaign cash for her elections, making them her ninth-largest donor. Comcast Corp.,…

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