Nation & World

Websites ‘slow down’ to protest FCC net neutrality plan

By Vera Bergengruen - McClatchy Washington Bureau

Popular websites including Netflix, Mozilla, reddit and Kickstarter launched a daylong online protest called Internet Slowdown Day on Wednesday to oppose the controversial proposed changes to net neutrality rules by the Federal Communications Commission.

The banners on participating websites featured an endlessly spinning “still loading” symbol, meant to warn visitors about the so-called “pay for play” Internet the new rules could create. This new web would be divided between those able to pay for a speedy pipe to consumers and those who can’t, protesters say.

Participating websites ranged from online crafts marketplace Etsy to inspirational news site Upworthy and adult content hubs.

The proposed new federal rules would allow companies to pay Internet service providers such as Verizon and AT&T a fee to move their online content through a fast lane. The deep pockets of companies such as Google, Amazon and Skype would be able to guarantee smooth streaming for their users, putting startups and innovative companies that can’t compete at a disadvantage, net activists say.

While the participating websites didn’t actually slow down their service during Wednesday’s protest, they say the high visibility of their messages and social media campaigns might add another flood of feedback to the already record-breaking 1.2 million comments that crashed the FCC website in July.

Netflix put up a banner on its homepage telling visitors, “If there were Internet slow lanes, you’d still be waiting,” and urging them to take action. Many net advocacy groups such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association called attention to the protest through pop-up messages when users entered their sites.

Internet advocates maintain that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposed rules, which could be finalized as early as this year, would eliminate the level playing field that would allow the next Twitter or YouTube to get off the ground.

Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade items that participated in Wednesday’s protest, said the new rules would make it difficult for its business to compete with more established brands.

“For the price of an Internet connection, anyone can spread new ideas or start a business – even spark a new industry,” the company said in a message on its site. “It is what allowed Etsy to grow from a tiny company in a Brooklyn apartment to a global platform for more than one million sellers worldwide.”

Opponents to the proposed rules have been raising the alarm for months, protesting that the regulation would ruin net neutrality, the concept that all online content should be treated equally without interference.

For now, the commission is working on reviewing the comments submitted by the public, said FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield.

“There are currently no rules on the books to prevent ISPs from blocking or degrading the public’s access to content online,” Wigfield told McClatchy.

Social media campaigns promoting the slowdown on Wednesday reminded Internet users of a similar online protest in 2012 against the Stop Online Piracy Act, legislation that opponents said amounted to censorship. During a daylong blackout, hundreds of popular sites, including Wikipedia, actually went dark and Google blacked out its logo. Congress was forced to abandon the bill after legislators’ offices were inundated with calls in what Internet activists consider a victory for free speech on the web.

Several top Democrats entered the net neutrality debate ahead of the Internet Slowdown Day earlier this week. In a letter to the FCC on Monday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on the commission to regulate broadband Internet as a public utility. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has scheduled a hearing before the panel next week to examine the FCC plan.

Others joined the day of action itself.

“Today, I stand in solidarity with the `net-izens’ of the world to show what the Internet would look like with fast and slow lanes,” Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who displayed a slowdown banner on his website, said in a statement.

He said the freedom of the open Internet is at stake “if the FCC allows broadband behemoths to play traffic cop, discriminating against some, while letting those who can afford to sail on by.”

Activist groups also are planning rallies in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other cities on Sept. 15, the official deadline for public comments on the issue.

The protest was organized by advocacy groups including the Free Press Action Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Demand Progress.

Email: vbergengruen@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @verambergen.

This story was originally published September 10, 2014 at 10:13 AM.

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