Concerned that a new bill that ostensibly aims to solidify net neutrality is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing, net neutrality activists are flooding congressional phone lines.
Nearly 17,000 people have called their representatives in Congress since Wednesday morning, according to Evan Greer, campaign director for the activist group Fight for the Future.
The impetus for the calls is the latest legislative push surrounding net neutrality, the concept that Internet providers aren’t allowed to charge particular sites extra to run at full speed. After an overwhelming public response and a direct request from President Obama, Federal Communications Commission chair Tom Wheeler had appeared to finally admit support for regulating the Internet as a utility under so-called Title II legislation. But a last-minute Republican bill, ostensibly created to ensure net neutrality, would actually gut the FCC’s ability to reclassify.
The bill has yet to go for a vote, and it’s not clear it will get enough support before the FCC’s proposed deadline of Feb. 26. Until then, net neutrality enthusiasts can still get connected at Battleforthenet.com.
Photo via Key Foster/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III
