Collaborative Statement on Net Neutrality
Statement produced from a collaborative writing process of ProgCode members on the issue of Net Neutrality
Below is the collaborative statement of ProgCode members on net neutrality, the idea that broadband service providers cannot block or deliberately slow speeds for internet services or apps, create special “fast lanes” for content, or engage in other practices that harm internet openness (Source: fcc.gov). ProgCode has no official statement, but below are the collaborative words its members have written. Please edit this document as you see fit by suggesting additions and or commenting for edits/removals. Don’t worry about making anything sound perfect, even adding comments with recommendations is extremely helpful.
A free internet requires net neutrality.
In support of this fact, a preemptive regulation was placed to keep access to every part of the internet accessible to all, by requiring that all data sent over the web be treated equally in terms of how it is sent and delivered, regardless of who owns the infrastructure through which it travels. Now, current FCC chair Ajit Pai threatens to remove that protection. Additionally, telecommunication companies will now be put to a different regulatory board called the Federal Trade Commission, which has no power to set preemptive regulations to protect a free and open internet.
Today, the Internet is the primary means people use to communicate, and this will only increase over the coming years. No longer a luxury or just a way to get entertainment, the Internet is now an integral part of the American economy. Employers increasingly request job applications through online portals. In our modern society, there are a lot of functions that can be performed only in the internet. For example, many courts now restrict new case filings to online only and a growing number of taxpayer obligations are fulfilled only through IRS online sites. Progressive movements would not have been able to thrive if net neutrality did not exist.
In addition, the “Internet” was created by our tax dollars, with vast public investments and subsidies in utility infrastructure like phone lines. It is through their positions as utilities that any of the ISPs have become “gatekeepers” to what Americans paid for and built. We still pay for it, each day, through mandated maintenance fees and subsidies. During a previous attack on net neutrality, Senator Al Franken reminded former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler,
“The Internet was developed at taxpayers’ expense to benefit the public interest. It belongs to all of us. The FCC should be working to sustain competition and consumer benefits, not creating unnecessary tolls for businesses and consumers.”
Net Neutrality is not a partisan issue
Importantly, net neutrality is not a partisan issue. A majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, do not agree with ISPs creating fast lanes — 71% of them.
What a lack of net neutrality truly represents is a pain that many people can understand: buffering. A lack of net neutrality will make way to telecommunications firms splitting the internet into a fast lane and a slow lane. Those who have the means to pay — both private citizens and small businesses — will be rewarded with snappy delivery. Those who cannot pay, whether it’s a local citizen’s group lobbying to get a third-party candidate on the ballot, a high school soccer team fundraising for new equipment, or a small business trying to advertise to their customer base — will have their content relegated second-class status, all thanks to buffering.
And not just buffering, removing net neutrality may mean that telecommunications conglomerates can extort any service providers into paying more for a government subsidized service we’re already paying for, with those costs ultimately passed down to the consumer.
If telecommunication companies are allowed to circumvent net neutrality, it will affect the very fabric of our internet experiences. Imagine, a website pushing for workers’ rights suddenly having very slow load times, or a small online business having a hard time to compete because multi-nationals receive the benefits of “fast lanes”. One reason the internet has flourished over the last 30+ years is that information can flow freely, without intervention by private industry. Rolling back regulations on Net Neutrality will stifle innovation and communication across a medium that has become intrinsic to modern society.
When private companies can charge its customers more based on what they’re looking at, and decide what web traffic to prioritize and de-prioritize depending on content, new ideas and innovations are hindered. Private companies should not be the gatekeepers of what ideas are good, and what ideas are not for public consumption. This is not freedom.
What can we do?
As progressive technologists, we call on all Americans to unite against the removal of net neutrality. We urge FCC chair Ajit Pai to reconsider and stop this dangerous move, which will endanger the dynamism and autonomy of the free internet.
It is also essential that we work together to increase the awareness for this issue. A big issue is that — in the same poll — 90% said they either never heard of net neutrality or only know a little bit about it. Building web campaigns, interactives, online actions, and other digital tools can be a way forward to solving this awareness debt.
As Chris Gates of the Sunlight Foundation says, “the internet is the ultimate form of civic technology. It’s a shared space for civic participation, information sharing, building networks and organizing community. …[P]reserving the Internet’s open architecture is essential to the health of our democracy.” That is true for us at ProgCode, and that is true for our society as a whole.
Our government has shown no concern for protecting citizens’ digital rights and privacies, recently making telecommunications companies able to use and sell our data however they please. And let’s not forget the FCC removing the data security requirements from ISPs, removing the need for ISPs to protect their users private information — an issue all the more egregious after Americans have seen how easy it is for hostile actors to circumvent the protections that were already in place.
Ultimately, this is about much more than streaming movies on Netflix or being allowed to visit Twitter without a paywall. This is about our freedom, and our society’s capacity to create new ideas without corporations’ choosing which are appropriate for public consumption. Our society is increasingly based on the free and neutral dissemination of info, and as humans and technology continue to evolve information transfer and access becomes increasingly crucial both in staying competitive and in being a leader in the world’s technology.
Corporate regulation and prioritization of internet content is a slippery — and dangerous — slope. From the technical innovations like virtual reality, cloud computing, 3D printing, and spaceflight, to the huge surge in civic engagement we’ve seen through and following the 2016 elections, we now stand at the edge of precipice: if telecommunications companies have their way, it will ultimately be up to those companies instead of collective society to decide what’s next.
Net neutrality ultimately becomes a question of whether our society can continue to evolve while serving the needs of all our citizens, and not just the ones at the top.
