More than 100 technology companies, including Google Inc, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Amazon.com Inc, have written to US telecom regulators to oppose a new “net neutrality” plan that would regulate how Internet providers manage Internet traffic.
The letter to US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler and the agency’s four commissioners, warning of a “grave threat to the Internet,” came as one FCC commissioner called for a delay of the vote on the plan scheduled for Thursday next week.
“Rushing headlong into a rulemaking next week fails to respect the public response to his [Wheeler’s] proposal,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said on Wednesday in remarks prepared for delivery at an industry meeting.
She called for a delay of the vote to formally propose Wheeler’s plan by “at least a month.”
Wheeler has been under fire for proposing new so-called “open Internet” or “net neutrality” rules that would allow content companies to pay broadband providers for faster Internet speeds delivering their traffic as long as the deals are deemed “commercially reasonable.”
Consumer advocates are worried the rules would ultimately allow Internet companies such as Comcast Corp or Verizon Communications Inc to create “fast lanes” on the Web for traffic of content from companies that pay up, potentially shutting out poorer newcomers.
The latest to weigh in is a consortium of technology and Internet companies, which ranged from household names to small startups. They called on the FCC to “take the necessary steps to ensure that the Internet remains an open platform for speech and commerce.”
Commission rules should not permit “individualized bargaining and discrimination,” the companies said.
Engine Advocacy and New America’s Open Technology Institute, long-time supporters of Open Internet policies, helped organize the effort.
FCC spokesman Neil Grace said Wheeler does not plan to delay the vote next week. Though Wheeler has written and spoken about his proposal, the proposed rules have not been made fully public.
“Moving forward will allow the American people to review and comment on the proposed plan without delay, and bring us one step closer to putting rules on the books to protect consumers and entrepreneurs online,” Grace said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of public comments have been received by the FCC on Wheeler’s plan over the past two weeks, and commission staff have met with nearly 100 stakeholders, including public interest groups and Internet content providers.
With two Republican commissioners broadly opposed to regulation of Internet traffic, the support of two Democrats on the panel — Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn -— is critical for Wheeler’s proposal to pass.
“I am listening to your voices as I approach this critical vote to preserve an ever-free and open Internet... My mind remains open as I continue to evaluate how best to promote these fundamental, core values,” Clyburn said, reiterating her opposition to pay-for-priority arrangements.
A handful of protesters gathered in the rain in front of the FCC headquarters in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, vowing to show up daily until the vote next week, when a high-profile demonstration is expected.
Consumer advocates have long urged the FCC to reclassify Internet service providers as more highly regulated utilities, like the telecom companies, a view that has faced staunch opposition from Republican lawmakers and broadband companies.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
A man walks past real-estate advertisements outside a house in Taipei yesterday. The central bank yesterday said it plans to establish an “Inflation-at-Risk” gauge as a supplementary tool for observing inflation, as policymakers express wish to communicate more effectively with the public when making inflation forecasts.
ABOVE LEGAL REQUIREMENT: The Ministry of Economic Affairs is prepared if LNG supply is disrupted, with more than the legal requirement of 11 days of inventory Taiwan has largely secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies through May and arranged about half of June’s supply, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. Since the Middle East conflict began on Feb. 28, Taiwan’s LNG inventories have remained more than 12 days, exceeding the legal requirement of 11 days, indicating no major supply concerns for domestic gas and electricity, Kung said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. The ministry aims to increase the figure to 14 days by the end of next year, he said. While one or two LNG or crude oil shipments for May
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip
RSS