July 2017

With the Internet Day of Action targeting the Federal Communications Commission now receding in the rearview mirror, organizer Fight for the Future (FFTF) is shifting its focus to Congress in its fight to retain Title II-based Open Internet rules. According to campaign director Evan Greer, the group will start putting up billboards targeting legislators who support the proposal by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to roll back Title II reclassification of ISPs as common carriers -- Greer calls it dismantling net-neutrality protections -- and rethink the bright-line rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization. Greer said the group has crowdfunded $50,000 toward the billboards, which will start going up in "the coming weeks." The group took the same outdoor advertising tack when trying, ultimately unsuccessfully, to block Republicans' rollback of the related FCC broadband privacy regulations.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan led a coalition of 13 other attorneys general to oppose the rollback of critical net neutrality protections by the Federal Communications Commission. In comments submitted to the FCC, Madigan and the other attorneys general argue that the FCC must ensure open access to the internet and the continued equal access to all content providers. "The current Open Internet rules were based on the premise that consumers expect and deserve an open and transparent Internet and that their right to access their chosen content without interference from their service provider should be protected.

The existing rules recognize that the Internet has become an essential service in our society, and that role could be compromised by allowing private companies, many of which have conflicts of interest, to dictate the terms of consumers’ access to and use of the Internet. Consumers expect transparency and fairness from their Internet service when they go online, and those expectations should be reflected in the FCC’s rules,” the attorneys general stated in their comments. Joining IL AG Madigan in submitting comments were the attorneys general from: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, as well as Hawaii’s Office of Consumer Protection.