Preserving An Ever-Free and Open Internet

Over 100,000 Americans and counting… I am listening to your voices as I approach this critical vote to preserve an ever-free and open Internet.

While it is my normal practice not to comment in advance on items which are on circulation out of my deep respect for the integrity of our regulatory and administrative process, given the high level of attention and the outpouring of expression on the notice of proposed rulemaking on Open Internet, I felt it was important to highlight my previously stated views. When I voted to approve the 2010 Open Internet Order, I voiced four concerns about the scope of the rules and the legal theory upon which the Order was based.

• First, I made clear that I would have applied the fixed rules to mobile services.
• Second, “I would have prohibited pay for priority arrangements altogether.”
• Third, I would have made an open Internet available to all end users and encouraged the FCC to carefully monitor whether the exceptions in the Order jeopardized the principle that an open Internet truly is available to everyone.
• And finally, I reiterated my preference regarding the Commission’s legal authority over broadband Internet access service. While the Order adopted a different framework, I believed it was necessary to move forward to protect an open Internet.