FCC’s Wheeler Quietly Visits Silicon Valley to Talk Net Neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is visiting Silicon Valley to get an earful from the tech community about what they think about his network neutrality proposal.

Chairman Wheeler reportedly met with a group of venture capitalists for a roundtable discussion about net neutrality and is meeting with a group of startups today, according to a person with knowledge of the meetings. Among the attendees, representatives from Y Combinator, Mozilla, Andreessen Horowitz’s (and former DC mayor) Adrian Fenty, Homebrew’s Hunter Walk and Engine Advocacy, the public interest group which has been responsible for whipping up support among startups for net neutrality.

“An Open Internet is an essential foundation for startups to build upon so very glad that Chairman Wheeler is spending time in Silicon Valley meeting with entrepreneurs, tech execs and investors,” Walk said. Many of the people in the meetings represent companies that signed onto a letter raising concerns about Chairman Wheeler’s recent net neutrality proposal, which opens the door to allowing broadband providers to sell fast-lane service to content companies.