Yahoo – AFP,
January 6, 2018
 |
| Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai pushed the rollback of net neutrality (AFP Photo/ALEX WONG) |
Washington
(AFP) - The lobby group for some of the most powerful US tech firms said Friday
it would join the legal challenge to the planned rollback of "net
neutrality" rules requiring internet service providers to treat all online
traffic equally.
The Internet
Association -- a group which includes Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft,
among others -- announced it would support legal efforts to block the rollback
voted last month by the Federal Communications Commission.
The
association gave no specifics but suggested it would seek to intervene in
lawsuits expected by several attorneys general, including from Washington and
New York states.
Internet
Association president Michael Beckerman said the FCC action voted December 14
"defies the will of a bipartisan majority of Americans and fails to
preserve a free and open internet."
He said the
association "intends to act as an intervenor in judicial action against
this order and, along with our member companies, will continue our push to
restore strong, enforceable net neutrality protections through a legislative
solution."
Last
month's vote capped a heated partisan debate and is just the latest twist in a
battle over more than a decade on rules governing internet service providers.
FCC
chairman Ajit Pai, who pushed the latest effort, has argued that the neutrality
rule enacted in 2015 served to stifle investment and innovation in a
fast-evolving sector.
But net
neutrality backers have argued that clear rules are needed to prevent internet
service providers from blocking or throttling services or websites for
competitive reasons, and that the rollback would increase the power of a few
dominant providers to control what users see online.
Lawsuits
could not be filed until the FCC's order was published, which occurred this
week. Some lawmakers have also begun efforts to invalidate the FCC's action.
The battle
over net neutrality has raged for over a decade in the FCC and the courts, with
both sides contending they represent "internet freedom."
The 2015
net neutrality rules were backed by then-president Barack Obama and endorsed by
a 3-2 Democratic majority at the time. But the election of President Donald
Trump reversed the FCC party majority and it quickly reversed course.
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