The group, which embodies countless tech organizations including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Etsy and various companies, stated that the organization will not only compete in the coming lawsuits which should come shortly after the repeal hits the Federal Register but would carry a “legislative solution” to help make net neutrality permanent.
“The final report of Chairman Pai’s rule, as anticipated, dismantles popular net neutrality protections for customers. This rule defies the will of a bipartisan bulk of Americans and fails to preserve a free and open internet. IA intends to act as an intervenor in administrative action against this order and, forward with our member businesses, will continue our push to restore strong, enforceable net neutrality protections through a congressional solution.”
To be clear, that’s a good thing. These future lawsuits, which will focus on the FCC’s blatant disregard for scientific data and public interest, are going to need all the help they can get. Said suits will focus largely on how Ajit Pai and the FCC ignored the nation’s startups, the personalities who built the internet, and any and all real data as it rushed to give a sloppy, wet kiss to the nation’s entrenched telecom monopolies.
That said, several IA member businesses’ dedication to net neutrality has been anything but logical. Google, while often touted as a “net neutrality advocate,” hasn’t truly backed the concept since 2009 or so. As the organization pushed into fixed Google Fiber and wireless (Project Fi, Android) broadband, its business in rules that truly protected customers from duopoly market abuse in the sector magically passed. And Google worked with AT&T and Verizon to help craft FCC net neutrality protections in 2010 that was so packed with tricks as to be largely useless they didn’t even cover wireless networks. Other IA segments like Facebook have actively worked to undermine net neutrality abroad as they attempt to corner the ad market in emerging nations.
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