Tech giants blast FCC's net neutrality proposal

In an open letter to the Federal Communications Commission, major Internet and technology companies are united in their fight to keep the Internet free and open. Companies that include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix among others, are standing together to fight the FCC's plans to split the Internet into faster and slower speed lanes as part of a new upcoming vote.

"According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against internet companies and to impose new tolls on them," the letter reads. "If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet."

These technology companies are asking that the Commission should establish rules that protect users on mobile and fixed platforms against "blocking, discrimination, and paid prioritization, and should make the market for internet services more transparent."

Paid prioritization will become more important as users consume more video content over Internet-based services, often as a result of cord-cutting. Companies like Netflix and Amazon would have to pay ISPs more money to get more speed so that they can deliver videos at sufficient quality to viewers.

GigaOm reports that fifty tech firms are standing together to oppose the FCC proposal that will be voted on. In addition to Amazon, Netflix, and Google, other notable names include Tumblr (now a Yahoo! property), Reddit, Foursquare, Facebook, eBay, the National Association of Realtors, Lyft, Zynga, and more.

Though the letter opposes the proposal that stands before the Commission, it does not provide for an alternative solution. Instead, the technology firms are just calling for an "open Internet" as a vehicle for innovation and free speech, noting that "such rules are essential for the future of the Internet."

"The innovation we have seen to date happened in a world without discrimination," the letter states. "An open Internet has also been a platform for free speech and opportunity for billions of users."

CATEGORIES
Chuong Nguyen

Chuong's passion for gadgets began with the humble PDA. Since then, he has covered a range of consumer and enterprise devices, raning from smartphones to tablets, laptops to desktops and everything in between for publications like Pocketnow, Digital Trends, Wareable, Paste Magazine, and TechRadar in the past before joining the awesome team at Windows Central. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, when not working, he likes exploring the diverse and eclectic food scene, taking short jaunts to wine country, soaking in the sun along California's coast, consuming news, and finding new hiking trails. 

Latest in Microsoft
Cloud servers
Microsoft has killed "several" data center projects in the U.S. and Europe, according to reports — Microsoft responds (Updated)
Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, former CEOs of Microsoft.
Bill Gates says Satya Nadella almost missed the cut for CEO of Microsoft — Even with Steve Ballmer's support
HP Reverb G2 VR headset
Was Windows Mixed Reality as bad as I remember? I look back at the failed VR platform that was ahead of its time.
Microsoft Majorana 1 chip designed for quantum computing
Microsoft dismisses quantum computing skepticism: "There is a century-old scientific process established by the American Physical Society for resolving disputes"
The Microsoft logo on a smartphone and laptop arranged in Crockett, California, US, on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
"Would you say there is a reasonable balance between what you contribute to Microsoft and what you get in return?" Two-thirds of Microsoft employees say YES — as AI engineers get preferential compensation packages.
Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii screenshot
Microsoft blocks (some) Windows 11 pirates while Lenovo steals the show at Mobile World Congress
Latest in News
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies mode screenshots for Shattered Veil map.
The next Call of Duty Zombies map, "Shattered Veil", is dropping earlier than expected
Helldivers 2
The new Helldivers 2 Illuminate Major Order is so important that we got a new stratagem for it
Hogwarts Legacy troll hero image
Hogwarts Legacy DLC reportedly canceled by WB Games
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Rumored Ubisoft and Tencent agreement comes to fruition with 25% stake and new division for the Assassin's Creed developer
In-game screenshot of the player consuming an enemy in Shadow Labyrinth
This isn't your grandpa's Pac-Man — Bandai Namco's iconic character gets a gritty new action game this Summer
Key art for Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD-2D remake
Every PC and Xbox game shown off during Nintendo Direct March 2025