Leading Lobbying Group for Amazon, Facebook, Google and Other Tech Giants is Joining the Legal Battle To Restore Net Neutrality (recode.net)

A leading lobbying group for Amazon, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Twitter and other tech giants said Friday that it would be joining the coming legal crusade to restore the U.S. government's net neutrality rules. From a report: The Washington, D.C.-based Internet Association specifically plans to join a lawsuit as an intervening party, aiding the challenge to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's vote in December to repeal regulations that required internet providers like AT&T and Comcast to treat all web traffic equally, its leader confirmed to Recode. Technically, the Internet Association isn't filing its own lawsuit. That task will fall to companies like Etsy, public advocates like Free Press and state attorneys general, all of which plan to contend they are most directly harmed by Pai's decision, as Recode first reported this week. As an intervener, though, the Internet Association still will play a crucial role, filing legal arguments in the coming case. And in formally participating, tech giants will have the right to appeal a judge's decision later if Silicon Valley comes out on the losing end. "The final version of Chairman Pai's rule, as expected, dismantles popular net neutrality protections for consumers," said the group's chief, Michael Beckerman, in a statement. "This rule defies the will of a bipartisan majority of Americans and fails to preserve a free and open internet."

Comments

Try not through the FCC ffs

[exabrial]

Literally no matter how many times you tell these people "It's not that we're against net neutrality, it's that we don't think the FCC is the right place to do it" they plug their ears and scream "YOU DONT WANT A 'FREE' INTERNET HEATHEN, IF YOURE NOT DOING IT OUR WAY YOURE WRONG". I'm happy to see them waste their money.

Now if they were to lobby the FTC about the bad business practices of ISPs, I'd be all in. Every month I get a report of the text messages I send. I think every time I hit some sort of network mangement cap, I should also get a report from my ISP of exactly when and why it happened and how I can avoid it. Also no more of "up to speeds of 300mbts", they should not be allowed to advertise burst speeds, but only the steady state download speeds. Finally, if the terms change (new network management practices introduced), I should be able to easily cancel my contract with no penalty, since they were the ones that modified the agreement. With those rules in place, forcing ISPs to advertise what they limit will quickly destroy any market for "fast lanes" except for the people that actually want them.