Matsui, Markey, Eshoo Send Letter to FCC Urging Calling for Anchor Institutions to be Included in Net Neutrality Rules
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 17, 2010
CONTACT: MARA LEE
(202) 225-7163
Matsui, Markey, Eshoo Send Letter to FCC Urging Calling for Anchor Institutions to be Included in Net Neutrality Rules
Today, Representative Doris O. Matsui (CA-05) sent a letter with Edward J. Markey (MA-07) and Anna G. Eshoo (CA-14) to the Chairman and Commissioners of the Federal Communications Committee (FCC), urging them not to leave out anchor institutions from the final Net Neutrality rule. Anchor institutions schools, libraries, community colleges, and other higher education institutions are often the only avenue for free access to the Internet to the public. Anchor institutions also depend on unrestricted access to the Internet to enable academic research, educational programming, job training, and other critical services for American families, seniors and students alike.
The FCC is expected to meet again Tuesday to discuss the proposed rules for Net Neutrality, which could have dramatic effects on anchor institutions access to the Internet. The three Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has legislative jurisdiction over telecommunications and oversight jurisdiction over the FCC, called on the FCC to ensure that anchor institutions are protected by the new rule.
Community anchor institutions should be included in the definition of broadband Internet access service and in the non-discrimination protections, the Members wrote in the letter. Leaving these critical institutions out of the proposal will create a gaping hole in the FCC's net neutrality safeguards. Many community anchor institutions purchase standard access to the public Internet from broadband Internet service providers and simply cannot and do not negotiate their own terms or conditions unlike large corporations that purchase their own private networks.
Community anchor institutions should be able to provide their Internet-based services equally to all members of their community, whether at a library, on a school campus, or at home, the letter continues. Learning and research over the Internet are not dependent on physical location, and the freedom to use the Internet on an open and nondiscriminatory basis should be guaranteed from anywhere, especially from our nation's anchor institutions. It is absolutely critical that the general public's access to the Internet through our nation's community anchor institutions is not impeded. We urge you to include the recommendations above in any upcoming Net Neutrality order.
A copy of the letter is available HERE.
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