Comcast and Verizon are violating net neutrality

Please read the following from fightforthefuture.org:

The FCC is deciding right now whether or not to let Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile undermine net neutrality with total impunity. These companies are trying to see if they can break the law in plain sight and get away with it. If they win, it will endanger the open Internet forever. But the FCC won’t act unless they see an overwhelming public response — help us submit 100,000 comments to the FCC in the next week.

Tell the FCC: Zero-rating schemes violate Net Neutrality and threaten the open Internet. Don't let these Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile get away with breaking the law.

Net neutrality is the basic guiding principle that has made the Internet what it is today. It keeps powerful interests from slowing down or censoring content, and it’s what guarantees us access to the expanse of knowledge that makes the Internet revolutionary. Last year, the FCC passed the strongest-ever protections for the open Internet, and it happened with such overwhelming public support that companies like Comcast and Verizon can’t publicly oppose net neutrality the way they used to.

Now, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are trying to work around the rules by doing something called zero rating, even though last year’s net neutrality rules already ban it as a discriminatory pricing model. The problem is the FCC decided to deal with zero rating on a, "case by case basis," which so far has meant that the FCC hasn’t done a thing. [1]

Companies are using the FCC’s slow response to their advantage, hoping to spread enough propaganda about the programs that the FCC won't ban them. The reality is, though, the FCC will only act quickly if enough of us speak out and demand that they do the right thing.

Tell the FCC: protect net neutrality and stop Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile from undermining the open Internet.

 

While each company’s zero rating scheme is a little different, they all functionally work the same way. They all claim to offer consumers something for free, when in reality they use arbitrary data caps to gouge customers for more money while striking special deals that let them manipulate the way we all use the Internet.

Internet experts, academics, and free speech advocates agree that these types of practices are harmful to Internet users and undermine our rights. Wired put it pretty succinctly: Net Neutrality is in More Danger than Ever. [2]

The good news is that asking the FCC to stop this is not unprecedented. Not only is zero rating already against the new rules, just last month, India’s telecom regulator banned zero rating schemes based on the danger they pose to free speech and equal access to information. But that victory in India only came after millions of people spoke out. We need to do the same thing here, and fast.

Tell the FCC: protect the open Internet and ban zero rating. Don’t let Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile undermine net neutrality.

Thanks for all you do,

Charlie

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1. http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/19/10789522/verizon-freebee-sponsored-data-net-neutrality

2. http://www.wired.com/2016/03/despite-fcc-net-neutrality-danger-ever/