More than 200 businesses and trade organizations have signed a letter to the FCC asking that the agency reconsider its plan to end net neutrality. The letter is signed by an array of big and recognizable tech and web companies: that includes Airbnb, Automattic (which owns WordPress), Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, Pinterest, Reddit, Shutterstock, Sonos, Square, Squarespace, Tumblr (certainly to the displeasure of its owner, Verizon), Twitter, and Vimeo, among quite a few others. The letter is being released on Cyber Monday and speaks directly to the internet’s constantly growing role in the US economy. “The internet is increasingly where commerce happens,” the letter says. It cites figures saying that $3.5 billion in online sales happed last year on Cyber Monday and $3 billion on Black Friday. Throughout all of last year, online purchases accounted for $400 billion in sales.
The lack of rules, they say, could force businesses into internet slow lanes. Or they could be blocked altogether, or forced to pay a toll. “This would put small and medium-sized businesses at a disadvantage and prevent innovative new ones from even getting off the ground,” the letter says. The FCC intends to vote on its proposal to remove net neutrality rules on December 14th. While there’s been an outpouring of opposition, it’s not likely to make a difference — FCC commissioners are appointed to five year terms, so they don’t have to answer to voters next year like a lot of other representatives do. The three Republican commissioners outnumber the two Democratic commissioners, and so the proposal to end net neutrality is almost certain to pass.
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https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/27/16705170/net-neutrality-cyber-monday-fcc-letter
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