Almost two dozen high-profile technologists have penned an open letter requesting that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cancel an upcoming vote to repeal existing net neutrality rules.
December 14 could prove to be a key day for internet freedom in the U.S., after FCC chair Ajit Pai scheduled a vote he hopes will remove the regulations that currently prevent telecommunication companies from creating a “tiered internet,” or one that would treat various kinds of online content differently. Many claim that the order, dubbed somewhat dubiously the “Restoring Internet Freedom Order,” would reverse over a decade of work to protect internet users and preserve net neutrality.
Now, as a last-ditch attempt to stave off changes to existing net neutrality regulation, 21 renowned internet pioneers and engineers have written to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, as well as the House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, asking them to “urge FCC Chairman Pai to cancel the FCC’s vote.”
Among the tech luminaries putting their names to the letter are Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British computer scientist who created the World Wide Web; Vint Cerf, one of the “fathers” of the internet and latterly an internet evangelist at Google; and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak.
The full list of signatories is as follows:
- Frederick J. Baker, IETF Chair 1996-2001, ISOC Board Chair 2002-2006
- Mitchell Baker, Executive Chairwoman, Mozilla Foundation
- Steven M. Bellovin, Internet pioneer, FTC Chief Technologist, 2012-2013
- Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web & professor, MIT
- John Borthwick, CEO, Betaworks
- Scott O. Bradner, Internet pioneer
- Vinton G. Cerf, Internet pioneer
- Stephen D. Crocker, Internet pioneer
- Whitfield Diffie, inventor of public-key cryptography
- David J. Farber, Internet pioneer, FCC Chief Technologist 1999-2000
- Dewayne Hendricks, CEO Tetherless Access
- Martin E. Hellman, Internet security pioneer
- Brewster Kahle, Internet pioneer, founder, Internet Archive
- Susan Landau, cybersecurity expert & professor, Tufts University
- Theodor Holm Nelson, hypertext pioneer
- David P. Reed, Internet pioneer
- Jennifer Rexford, Chair of Computer Science, Princeton University
- Ronald L. Rivest, co-inventor of RSA public-key encryption algorithm
- Paul Vixie, CEO, Farsight Security
- Stephen Wolff, Internet pioneer
- Steve Wozniak, co-founder, Apple Computer
The crux of their argument is that the FCC essentially doesn’t understand how the internet works. “It is important to understand that the FCC’s proposed Order is based on a flawed and factually inaccurate understanding…
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