FCC has a ‘factually inaccurate understanding of Internet technology,’ says internet pioneers; Net neutrality repeal vote tomorrow

The leading pioneers in internet technology have written an open letter to United States lawmakers, urging them to cancel the December 14th vote to repeal net neutrality. The list of those signing the letter includes the inventor of the World Wide Web, former FCC members, the chairwoman of Mozilla, the co-founder of Apple, and many, many more.

Update: Net neutrality has been repealed.

In the open letter, the pioneers address concerns that the repeal of net neutrality will create fast lanes on the internet by throttling or blocking access to sites, content or applications, as well as the ‘flawed and factually inaccurate understanding of Internet technology.’

It was also noted that the FCC ignored 23 million public complaints and that they have not held “a single open public meeting to hear from citizens and experts about the proposed Order.” Ultimately, the letter looks to convince those whose voice can be heard by the FCC (as they are ignoring the voices of the community) to put off the vote until concerns are addressed.

In the later was a detailed comment on the FCC’s proposal (43 pages long) that reveals that they are unsure that the FCC unstrand what the internet is.

“Based on certain questions the FCC asks in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), we are concerned that the FCC (or at least Chairman Pai and the authors of the NPRM) appears to lack a fundamental understanding of what the Internet’s technology promises to provide, how the Internet actually works, which entities in the Internet ecosystem provide which services, and what the similarities and differences are between the Internet and other telecommunications systems the FCC regulates as telecommunications services.”

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, posted his own thoughts following the release of the prior letter and comments, writing about what he believes will come after the repeal of net neutrality and urging citizens of the United States to speak up against the FCC’s proposal to repeal net neutrality.

“If US net neutrality rules are repealed, future innovators will have to first negotiate with each ISP to get their new product onto an internet package. That means no more permissionless space for innovation. ISPs will have the power to decide which websites you can access and at what speed each will load. In other words, they’ll be able to decide which companies succeed online, which voices are heard — and which are silenced.”

“…Net neutrality separates the connectivity market from the content market. As separate markets, both have flourished. But if the US allows the internet to become like the old cable TV model — with the same firms controlling the cables and the content — competition in both markets will suffer. As other countries maintain separate and fiercely competitive markets, America will decline as the world’s chief digital innovator.”

As far as throttling the internet goes, Comcast has already removed their promise to never prioritize content. The voices above are joining a number of game developers who have voiced concerns over the proposed repeal.

Further information on proposed repeal here.