A consortium of US tech giants are fighting for net neutrality

The Internet Association, a consortium of major US tech outfits that includes: Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter, has presented its joint case in favor of Net neutrality to the Federal Communications Commission on Monday. The group’s position is as straightforward as it gets: no toll lanes on the Net, wired or wireless, thank you very much. The group’s comment filing with the FCC is a reflection of the default stance taken by most tech companies and content providers on Net neutrality. Internet providers, mobile carriers included, should not be permitted to strike “fast-lane deals,” where people are surcharged for premium access to certain kinds of content. Discrimination and anticompetitive behavior are to be shunned, says the Internet Association, and all types of networks should be treated equally.

The lobbying group for the world’s largest Internet companies made its official case for broad net neutrality regulations in a filing Monday. Broadband access providers have the technical ability and the financial incentive to clog Internet traffic and extort tolls from Web companies, the Internet Association wrote in a comment to the Federal Communications Commission. The group, which represents Google, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, and others, said broadband providers could turn the Internet into “a pay-for-priority platform more closely resembling cable television than today’s Internet.” “The Commission must act to protect its open and neutral architecture, which is the force behind the Internet’s success,” the group argued. The FCC first enacted net neutrality regulations in 2010, but a federal court struck them down earlier this year. The agency is now trying to re-work the rules in a way that can survive future court challenges. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler put forward a proposal in May that prompted a massive public backlash because it would allow broadband providers to charge websites for faster service as long as the arrangements are “commercially reasonable.” In its filing, the Internet Association argued that Wheeler’s proposal would undermine “the Internet’s level playing field.” “It shifts the balance from the consumers’ freedom of choice to the broadband Internet access providers’ gatekeeping decisions,” the group wrote. Instead, the FCC should enact “simple, light-touch rules” to ban providers from blocking or discriminating against any Internet traffic, the Internet Association wrote.