One More Chance to Save the Open Internet

This segment of Dogtown Media News deals with the open Internet, something near and dear to our hearts, and probably yours too if you’re here to read some tech news. We’ve truly been living in the age of information — we have the freedom to learn about anything that piques our interest at any time. This could soon change if we don’t put up a fight for our rights.

The Fight So Far

As you may recall, back in December, the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality rules. This result was baffling, to say the least; it flew in the face of all logic and public interest in the matter. To top it off, there was plenty of suspicious behavior leading up to the vote, like fake comments supporting net neutrality’s demise. Combine this with the fact that it seemed like only multi-billion dollar corporations supported the end of net neutrality, and that’s enough fuel to keep a conspiracy theorist going for years.

But with mounting investigations of the FCC, those theories may not be so farfetched. After all, an overwhelming majority of Americans support the concept that Internet service providers (ISP) should have to treat all data on the Internet as equal. It’s the sole reason why the Internet has grown into what it is right now. The only entities that stand to gain from ISPs being able to tamper with access to certain sites are the ISPs themselves.

A few days ago, the FCC released the result of its vote, the Net Neutrality Rollback Order. The publication of this 500-page document means that net neutrality is not a law anymore. But this fight isn’t over yet. And we need you to help us win it.

What You Can Do

While it seems like the battle for Internet freedom is over, we can still undo the damage done so far. Per the Congressional Review Act, a regulation announced by a government agency can be overturned with a simple majority vote from Congress.

Whether you’re a developer in San Diego or a business analyst in New York City, the results of this fight for net neutrality will greatly affect all of our lives. This is about more than mobile app development; the future of the Internet directly impacts the future of the United States.

We need Congress to know this. If you care about technology, freedom, or innovation, take some time to contact your congressional representative right now and urge them to save the open Internet with the Congressional Review Act. You can find and email your representative through this link from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

If the FCC’s rollback order is published in the federal register and they submit a report to both the House and Senate, Congress will only have a limited amount of time to do anything about it. So, unfortunately, time is of the essence. Make your voice heard now. We’re counting on you.