Ron: People power can prevail on net neutrality

Ron said recently in Multnomah County that the “people power” behind May’s successful bipartisan vote in the Senate protecting an open internet and preserving net neutrality can also prevail in the House.

The senator said at a roundtable in southwest Portland on net neutrality that the time is now to put a full-court press on the House to follow the Senate’s lead reversing the scheme by Donald Trump’s Federal Communication Commission to end net neutrality protections.

Ron said the Trump path leads to “digital serfdom” where Big Cable can write its own rules and consumers are left powerless.

“People power proved the pundits wrong when they predicted net neutrality would fall short in the Senate,” he said. “We must fight to restore the principle of net neutrality that says once we pay our internet bill we can go where we want, when we want, and how we want on the Web.”

“It’s a principle that means all schoolchildren enjoy equal opportunity to conduct research for class, adults can use the internet for their job search, older folks can stay connected to vital services, and entrepreneurs can keep lit the flames of internet innovation and commerce,” Ron said.

Among those joining Ron at the Hillsdale branch of the Multnomah County Library were U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici; and Oregon House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, who sponsored Oregon’s net neutrality law requiring state and local governments to contract only with internet providers that follow net neutrality’s principles. Also participating were Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, Multnomah County Library Director Vailey Oehlke high school students and representatives from AARP and the ACLU.