U.S. mayors led by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee adopted a resolution in support of net neutrality and called on White House and Congress to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to exercise its power in preventing Internet service providers from giving preferential treatment to affluent websites.
Mayors Lee, Ed Murray of Seattle, Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles and Jonathan Rothschild of Tucson introduced the resolution at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Dallas Monday and were happy to find that the resolution was passed on a unanimous vote.
The resolution (pdf), which calls for the prevention of "blocking of lawful websites" and "unreasonable discrimination of lawful network traffic," is in support of the reclassification of broadband Internet services as telecommunications instead of information services to give the FCC the power to regulate ISPs. However, it stopped short of saying that ISPs should be classified as utilities, which will subject them to even more stringent regulation, as called for by net neutrality watchdog groups.
In an opinion-editorial piece written by Lee, he said America's mayors are witness to how a free Internet have created a level playing field where small businesses can reach their customers "with the same speed and quality as the busiest commercial websites."
"As mayors of diverse American cities, we have seen the awesome power of this tool firsthand," Lee says. "But now freedom and transparency is in danger from a new kind of discrimination - where big gets priority over little; where the establishment dominates and the newcomer doesn't stand a chance."
Earlier this year, the FCC passed a set of net neutrality rules that prevented ISPs from creating special relationships with businesses that can afford the additional fees to have their content delivered faster than other websites that are not paying the same price. A federal court struck down these rules, saying that the FCC did not have the jurisdiction to regulate ISPs. Ironically, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a second set of rules that allowed the creation of Internet fast lanes, a proposal that many don't see as neutral at all.
Although net neutrality supporters are frustrated with the indecisive stance, the FCC is currently inviting all U.S. citizens to pitch in with their two cents about the second set of proposed net neutrality rules by visiting DearFCC.org and writing an email.
Although the mayor's resolution is largely symbolic, it is a sign that the issue of net neutrality is also important at the local level and national officials may have to listen since their careers depend on the opinion of local voters.
