Mozilla calls for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reinstate the Net Neutrality rules that were empty under the Trump administration. In one letter to the Interim President of the FCC Jessica rosenworcel, the maker of Firefox has been joined by Reddit, Vimeo, Dropbox and Wikimedia in pushing for internet protections that prevent ISPs from blocking, throttling, or prioritizing traffic for payment. “We believe these fundamental safeguards are essential to preserve the Internet as a free and open medium that fosters innovation and drives economic growth,” wrote the signatories, including ADT and Eventbrite.
The battle for net neutrality has raged for more than a decade and has seen telecom providers at odds with tech companies over federal rules, which were passed and repealed on partisan lines. For its part, Mozilla has on several occasions pushed for the guarantees to be reinstated and even filed a trial against the FCC to preserve the rules.
Now, he argues that the pandemic has made the need for Net Neutrality more evident. “At a time when classrooms and offices have moved online out of necessity, it is extremely important to have rules coupled with strict government monitoring and enforcement to protect families and businesses from predatory practices. Mozilla General Counsel Amy Keating said in a statement. blog post.
He also cites the recent court decision to enable California to enforce its landmark Net Neutrality Act – introduced in 2018 and later blocked by lawsuits Department of Justice and telecommunications industry lobbyists – which effectively prohibits operators from excluding their own services from data caps. With the rules in place, AT&T recently had to remove the so-called “zero-rating” benefit for customers using its HBO Max streaming service.
“We believe users across the country deserve the same ability to control their own online experiences,” Keating said.