Reaction to Latest FCC Net neutrality trial Balloon

After news broke that the Federal Communications Commission is considering separating broadband into two distinct services… well, everyone has an opinion.

• Public Knowledge, a public interest group that has backed strong rules, sounded cautiously optimistic. “"We're very pleased to see that the FCC Chairman is moving towards a Title II framework for creating rules to protect an open internet. Although there are many details that do not appear to have been worked out, we are confident that the proposal they're considering could use Title II and other regulatory tools in a manner that effectively addresses the most important issues in the debate,” group president Gene Kimmelman said. Still, Kimmelman called for the FCC to ban online “fast lanes” that could harm the public.
• Free Press was not supportive. "This Frankenstein proposal is no treat for Internet users, and they shouldn't be tricked,” said Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron. “No matter how you dress it up, any rules that don’t clearly restore the agency's authority and prevent specialized fast lanes and paid prioritization aren’t real Net Neutrality.”
• Anna Galland, the executive director of MoveOn’s advocacy arm warned that the plan would “undermine” net neutrality and “betray” President Obama’s plans to ban “fast lanes.”
• Fight for the Future, an activist group, said that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ought to be fired over his “sham proposal.”
• Walter McCormick, the head of USTelecom, a broadband industry trade group, called the approach “byzantine” and said it “defies legal precedent and common sense.” The proposal “would be an invitation to protracted litigation,” he added, and “would only guarantee continued uncertainty and debate well into the next administration.”
• The National Cable and Telecommunications Association, another trade group, would oppose the reported plan, a spokesman said.
• AT&T said that the agency’s use of the common carrier rules “would be problematic.”
• "King Solomon wasn’t serious when he proposed splitting the baby. Let’s hope Chairman Wheeler isn’t either. Subjecting any part of broadband to Title II opens the door to FCC regulation of the heart of the Internet," said TechFreedom president Berin Szoka.