The Internet is perhaps the greatest invention ever, where everyones' voice can be heard, everyones' beliefs can be shared, to be discussed, debated, even debunked or confirmed after those that read or hear a specific argument have done their research.
No matter what side of the politic aisle one is on, any threat to the freedom of Internet speech, should be quickly elimated... yet the FCC, after "unprecendented" interference from the Obama administration, is proposing rules which, those with knowledge of the proposal, say go too far and endangers the free speech rights of Americans.
“While the FCC is inserting government bureaucracy into all aspects of Internet access, the FEC is debating whether to regulate Internet content, specifically political speech posted for free online,” the commissioners wrote.
The FCC is due to vote on specific regulations, yet the American public has not seen the proposals. There are calls for the FCC be transparent before voting, and allow the public the opportunity to see and comment on those rules and regulations before the FCC allows Obama's Internet takeover to be rammed through by a partisan vote.
Three days before the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on the most significant Internet regulations in history, two commissioners are asking Chairman Tom Wheeler to delay the vote and release his proposal to the public.
“We respectfully request that FCC leadership immediately release the 332-page Internet regulation plan publicly and allow the American people a reasonable period of not less than 30 days to carefully study it,” Republican Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly said in a statement Monday. “Then, after the commission reviews the specific input it receives from the American public and makes any modifications to the plan as appropriate, we could proceed to a final vote.”
Make no mistake, it is not only the Republican members of the FCC Commission that are balking, even Democratic members of the FCC commission are encouraging a narrower scope and asking Chairman Tom Wheeler to roll back some of the restrictions before the full commission votes on them.
A Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission wants to narrow the scope of new net neutrality rules that are set for a vote on Thursday, The Hill has learned.
Mignon Clyburn, one of three Democrats on the FCC, has asked Chairman Tom Wheeler to roll back some of the restrictions before the full commission votes on them, FCC officials said.
The request — which Wheeler has yet to respond to — puts the chairman in the awkward position of having to either roll back his proposals, or defend the tough rules and convince Clyburn to back down.
Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai and Federal Election Commission member Lee Goodman warn:
“Internet freedom works. It is difficult to imagine where we would be today had the government micromanaged the Internet for the past two decades as it does Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service. Neither of us wants to find out where the Internet will be two decades from now if the federal government tightens its regulatory grip. We don’t need to shift control of the Internet to bureaucracies in Washington. Let’s leave the power where it belongs — with the American people. When it comes to Americans’ ability to access online content or offer political speech online, there isn’t anything broken for the government to “fix.” To paraphrase President Ronald Reagan, Internet regulation isn’t the solution to a problem. Internet regulation is the problem.”
