Time’s Almost Up to Comment on the FCC’s Plan to End Net Neutrality

August 30, 2017

If you have anything to say about net neutrality, you better say it quickly.

Today is the final day the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will accept public feedback from U.S. citizens on its proposal to remove net neutrality. The proposal was revealed in April of this year, and it received widespread pushback from both the public and business world alike. Net neutrality was put into law and protected in 2015.

The comment period closes at the end of the day (EST time). The FCC will gather all responses and use them to guide revisions of the proposal. If the proposal stays in its current form, it will kill net neutrality as we see it now.

Net neutrality is the notion that all users should have access to the same kinds of content without any limitations on connection speed or availability. If net neutrality is reversed, ISPs may gain the ability to charge more for sites to load quicker for users, then pass those fees onto the customer. It essentially creates an environment of haves and have-nots, hurting smaller sites without the money to pay for extra speeds and connectivity perks.

According to the rules, the FCC has to read and review all submissions, so if you have strong feelings regarding net neutrality you should definitely let the governing body know. There has been a continued push against this proposal in the recent past, including a call to action on July 12 that saw the FCC receiving 1.6 million comments and Congress fielding over three million calls and emails. Huge companies including Netflix and Reddit even got in on the action, showing what life may be like with a throttled internet.

There are currently just under 22 million filings on the proposal right now, setting a record for the amounts of comments an FCC proposal has received.

Ajit Pai, the current chairman of the FCC, has continually downplayed comments on the proposal, saying one well argued legal brief is worth more than even millions of public comments. Pai’s views echo that of many large ISPs including Comcast and Verizon, and many argue that ending net neutrality will only really benefit those large providers.