Wyden's Position on Net Neutrality Upheld at FCC
Senator Encouraged that "Change has come to Washington"
WASHINGTON, DC - Extolling the economic benefits of a free and open Internet provided by the policy of net neutrality, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released a statement today in response to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) vote to begin writing net neutrality regulations. The FCC will prevent internet service providers (ISP) from being able to act as gatekeepers, favoring their own applications or services over those provided by others and blocking or slowing certain internet content. The senator's statement follows:
"The FCC did the right thing today. They said loud and clear that in America, the consumer is going to stay in control of how they use the internet - not the well-connected, well-funded service providers," said Wyden. "The internet has become a mainstay of the nation's economy, whose health rests on forging net neutrality as a bedrock principle that businesses know will always be upheld. The FCC's decision demonstrates that change has come to Washington. They've proven they won't be swayed by lobbyists and PR campaigns and that's exactly how it should be."
Wyden is a long-time advocate for net neutrality, having introduced the first legislation in Congress to preserve a neutral Internet. On March 2, 2006, he introduced the Internet Non-Discrimination Act of 2006 to codify net neutrality into law. For his efforts, Wyden was named one of the 50 most important people on the web by PC World magazine in 2007.
In 2006, Wyden killed the Telecommunications Reauthorization Bill because it would have ended net neutrality, by placing a hold on it for the remainder of the session. Senator Wyden has continued to advocate for codified network neutrality protections during and has urged the FCC to aggressively police Internet Service Providers who are alleged to have broken the rules of network neutrality. Wyden has also fought to protect Internet providers from discriminatory taxes and from content-related litigation.
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