News

AUSTIN — On Friday and Saturday, Net Neutrality advocates Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and the Free Press Action Fund will fly an airplane towing a 1,500-square-foot banner over Austin, Texas. The banner will celebrate the recent FCC vote to protect Net Neutrality while calling out Sen. Ted Cruz for his opposition to the open Internet.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, the FCC released the rules and the text of the Open Internet Order it voted to approve on Feb. 26. The document provides the complete details on the agency’s plan to reclassify broadband access under Title II of the Communications Act — the step needed to provide real Net Neutrality protections for Internet users, promote competition, access, and choice, and stop any phone and cable company plans to block, throttle and discriminate against online content.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission ruled to preempt two state laws that prevent municipalities from creating high-speed Internet networks to connect their residents. The ruling was in response to petitions brought before the agency by municipalities in North Carolina and Tennessee.

WASHINGTON ­­— A cohort of civil rights leaders applaud the Federal Communications Commission for listening to communities of color who have called on the agency to protect the open Internet applying strong and enforceable Net Neutrality rules.

WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to reclassify high-speed Internet access service under Title II of the Communications Act. These rules will prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling Internet content and ban paid-prioritization schemes that could create Internet slow lanes.

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee will convene a hearing to discuss the FCC’s Feb. 26 Net Neutrality vote. The majority of the witnesses are phone and cable industry-funded spokespeople and pundits, called to appear at another hearing designed to spread fear about Net Neutrality and stop the FCC from protecting the rights of Internet users.

WASHINGTON — Supporters of the open Internet will convene a telephone press conference on Tuesday to set the stage for a momentous week for Net Neutrality. The speakers will include Sen. Ed Markey, former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron, Fight for the Future Co-Founder Tiffiniy Cheng, and Center for Media Justice Executive Director Malkia Cyril.

In a recent press conference, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai critiqued the agency’s pending Open Internet order, mischaracterizing FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s plan as a scheme to “regulate the Internet.”

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that he will base new Net Neutrality rules on Title II of the Communications Act. In a blog post for Wired, Wheeler said that he will submit to his fellow commissioners “the strongest open Internet protections ever proposed by the FCC.”

Civil rights organizations including the Center for Media Justice, the Black Lives Matter Network, and ColorOfChange.org have come together through the Voices for Internet Freedom Coalition to applaud FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s historic proposal.