50 Mayors Urge FCC to Retain Net Neutrality A group of 50 mayors from around the country have written FCC boss Ajit Pai, urging him to call off his planned repeal of net neutrality this week. The mayors collectively tell the agency boss, perhaps now the most unpopular in agency history, that the rules are necessary to help protect competition and the health of the internet, helping drive economic and educational benefits to local communities. The letter comes after consumers and advocates protested the repeal last Thursday, and prepare for more protests ahead of Thurs

"Our economies, educational institutions, government agencies, and communities, in general, increasingly rely on broadband connectivity and the transformative power of the internet to drive economic growth, individual and community development, and improve government service and accountability for all our citizens," the mayors wrote in the letter "Critical to our communities' reliance on the internet is the confidence that our use of the internet is not subject to the whims, discretion, or economic incentives of gatekeeper service providers to control or manipulate the experience of internet users." Granted Ajit Pai has ignored the more than 20 million US consumers largely opposed to his plan, including many of the folks that helped build the internet. Just as he's ignored the 800 or so startups (correction: now more than 1,000) that also oppose his repeal, and the 190 engineers, technologists and other experts who have told the FCC the basis of their repeal misunderstands how the internet actually functions. Still, the mayors warn that ISP promises they'll behave don't mean all that much given the lack of competition in the market. "The FCC’s rules appear to contemplate a marketplace in which service providers, faced with limited or no competition, will be subject to oversight only to the extent that their conduct deviates from whatever commitments they make upfront," the mayors said. "Moreover, the disclosure of voluntary commitments required under the commission’s new transparency rule could be changed at any time by service providers, rendering them meaningful only to the extent providers choose not to amend their promises to permit future harmful conduct." The FCC is expected to vote 3-2 on Thursday to kill the rules. Once they appear in the federal register in January, The FCC is expected to vote 3-2 on Thursday to kill the rules. Once they appear in the federal register in January, lawsuits filed against the agency will inevitably try to argue that Ajit Pai and friends blatently ignored both proper FCC procedure and the public interest in rushing to repeal the rules for AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter.







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Most recommended from 13 comments



Mike

Mod

join:2000-09-17

Pittsburgh, PA 11 recommendations Mike Mod Net Neutrality is gone on Thursday but No one is going to make a big move until the legal battle is over. It's pointless to dump capital immediately into something that's being sued unless you know you're going to win.

onebadmofo

gat gnitsoP

Premium Member

join:2002-03-30

Pennsylvania 6 recommendations onebadmofo Premium Member pppffbb... ...they're just Mayors. They have no real power. Fuck'em.



(that's probably how the FCC is looking at it)

tyspeed29

Premium Member

join:2001-01-04

Simi Valley, CA ·Charter

5 recommendations tyspeed29 Premium Member Axed for whatever reason congressional investigators can find This guy isn't worthy of being in office, he clearly isn't for the people, he isn't their for what the job stands for, he is a political puppet and and we should not stand for this.

With all the companies against it, they need to put there money were their mouth is so to speak and get this guy out of office.