As an everyday consumer I pay an Internet service provider (ISP) a monthly fee for access to the Internet. As a programmer and technologist I pay a colocation facility for space, power and bandwidth to participate on the Internet. Both the colocation facility and my local ISP themselves pay “upstream” provers for Internet access. These upstream providers then engage in “peering” agreements where ISPs interlink their networks with each other resulting in an interconnection of networks, the Internet. As the Federal Communication Commission itself has stated, “The Internet is a vital platform for innovation, economic growth and free expression”, a platform that I build upon everyday. As such, the interconnection of these networks and equality of communication that these networks carry is of utmost importance to me.
This “net neutrality” has become an important cornerstone of the Internet that enables me to prosper. In order to keep an Internet that myself, and millions of others, can continue to grow and depend on, I urge the FCC to continue on the path started with the “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet” notice to ensure the Internet remains an open platform for innovation and expression. Specifically, I believe the best legal method granted by the United States Congress for the FCC’s oversight of internet service providers depends upon the reclassification of ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. By classify ISPs as common carriers the FCC will be realizing that their “platform” is a public utility and that additional prioritization arrangement, or “fast lanes” have the potencial to negatively impact “innovation, economic growth and free expression” as expressed by myself and others on a daily basis.