Verizon vs. the open Internet

In a continuing campaign to undermine the open Internet, Verizon last year filed suit to overturn the FCC’s net neutrality rules. On July 2, the communications giant filed its opening brief before the D.C. Court of Appeals, claiming that “the FCC has acted without statutory authority to insert itself into this crucial segment of the American economy, while failing to show any factual need to do so.”

Actually, the FCC has shown the need to provide some ground rules to preserve democratic access to the most important medium of communications of the 21st century. Specifically, the FCC's open Internet rules were enacted because Comcast sought to block or slow down access to some websites.

The court in 2010 struck down the FCC’s legal reasoning in the Comcast case. So, the FCC crafted the current rules, carefully balancing the need to protect an open Internet with incentives to encourage job-creating network investment. Specifically, the rules protect the right to access any legal content and attach any devices that do not harm the network, and ensure non-discriminatory access on any wired broadband network.

CWA and Speed Matters continue to support the FCC's rules.

Verizon urges court to scrap net-neutrality rules (The Hill, Jul. 2, 2012)
 
Issue Brief: High Speed Broadband for America and Net Neutrality (CWA paper, Jul. 1, 2010)
 
CWA Opposes Efforts to End Open Internet (CWA, Feb. 16, 2011)