Internet And Tech Pioneers Beg Congress To Save Net Neutrality

The vote to end Net Neutrality is only days away and no one is under the illusion that the Trump-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with Ajit Pai as its chair will vote any other way. Even so, staunch defenders of a free internet are not giving up. An impressive list of luminaries and pioneers from the tech industry are calling on Congress to do the right thing.

Among the giants to add their names to the list of people calling to stop the FCC’s vote to gut Net Neutrality is the inventor of the internet himself, Tim Berners-Lee. There’s also the legendary Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple and Vinton Cerf, who all signed a letter along with several other big names that were recently sent to members of Congress.

“We are the pioneers and technologists who created and now operate the Internet, and some of the innovators and business people who, like many others, depend on it for our livelihood. We are writing to respectfully urge you to call on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to cancel the December 14 vote on the FCC’s proposed Restoring Internet Freedom Order (WC Docket No. 17-108),” the letter reads.

Millions of Americans have already written to the FCC expressing their opposition of its vote to destroy internet freedom, which includes hundreds of engineers and tech experts, Mashable reports. Unfortunately, Pai and his Republican cohorts have all ignored these objections, proceeding instead to curry favors with ISPs.

Along with the citizens, even senators have called on the FCC to at least delay its vote in order to investigate the fake comments left on its website. Pai and other officials have decided not to listen to these calls and are still committed to the December 14th voting date. If the vote proceeds, many things on the internet are expected to change, including the addition of fast lanes and even throttling of services.