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When you go to any number of websites today, you may notice something different: a pop-up box asking consumers to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to keep its current net neutrality rules in place. The agency is now taking public comments on a proposed rollback of those rules, which govern the way internet service providers treat data flowing across the web to people’s homes.
A long list of companies, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Netflix, have joined Consumer Reports and other groups in hosting the messages, for an event called the Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.
“When you’re online, you expect to be able to visit the websites you choose and use the apps you choose,” says Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports. “The FCC put basic rules in place to ensure that your internet provider doesn’t block or slow down certain sites and apps while giving preferential treatment to others that ‘pay to play.’”
Along with other organizations, Consumers Union is collecting comments on the issue, which are being forwarded to regulators.
FCC Rules Ban 'Paid Prioritization'
The current net neutrality rules were put in place by the FCC in 2015, mandating that all data—whether it’s a movie from Netflix, a YouTube video of a speech, or a video chat with your aunt—be treated equally as it is transmitted across the web and into people’s homes.
The rules prevent internet service providers such as Comcast and Verizon from blocking or slowing down lawful online traffic in order to favor some companies’ content for business purposes. For instance, the rules ban “paid prioritization” deals that create fast internet lanes for companies that can pay for them.
A new chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, is attempting to overturn those rules, saying that they impose unnecessary regulatory burdens on broadband providers. “The internet was not broken” before the rules were imposed, Pai has said on a number of occasions.
In May the FCC voted to support a new proposal titled “Restoring Internet Freedom,” that would repeal the net neutrality rules and undo the Title II reclassification of broadband providers that gave the FCC jurisdiction over the providers.
Under FCC rules, that vote began a 90-day process of public comment, which was split into two periods. The initial commenting period closes July 17—this Monday.
What Happens Now?
According to Fight for the Future, more than 75,000 people, sites, and organizations have signed on to support and promote the Day of Action.