【2012 Archives】

012 ArchivesElectronic Frontier Foundation wants to bury the Federal Communications Commission in comments demanding net neutrality.

The head of the FCC wants to make net neutrality a thing of the past. If his proposal succeeds, internet service providers such as Verizon and Comcast will be able to charge websites a fee to get into what's known as a "fast lane."

Customers will easily be able to access sites wiling to pay the fee, but smaller companies with less cash will have to settle for a choppier connection. Internet service providers could also, of course, prioritize quick internet access for any corporate partner and cause slowdowns for rivals.

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SEE ALSO: John Oliver calls on the internet to save itself by flooding the FCC with comments

The EFF wants none of this, and it's launched a tool to galvanize the internet into railing against the potential death of net neutrality.

That tool is called DearFCC. It's a website that allows visitors to send pro-net neutrality statements to the FCC's public docket. The FCC will vote on May 18 to open the proposal up for official comment, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai expects a vote on rolling back net neutrality before the start of 2018.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Comments generated by DearFCC are mostly boilerplate, and start with "The FCC should stand up for Internet users by safeguarding net neutrality." But they allow users to select a reason they're afraid of a "pay-to-play" internet, and provide a section for users to type out a reason "the internet matters to me."

The EFF did this back in 2014 as well, as the FCC moved toward enacting net neutrality regulations. The victory was hailed as a great moment for those in favor of an open internet, but that achievement is suddenly in jeopardy.

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