ARL and Seven Other Higher Education Groups Submit Comments to FCC in Support of Net Neutrality Rules

From Krista Cox at ARL:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has joined with eight higher education associations in submitting comments, due today, July 18, 2017, to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to support strong net neutrality rules. In 2015, the FCC set forth its Open Internet Order, which reclassified the Internet as a common carrier under Title II of the Communications Act and also relied on the FCC’s authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act to provide a firm legal basis to protect net neutrality. The FCC, under new leadership, is now seeking to reverse or amend the 2015 order.
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“Net neutrality is critical to equitable access to information,” said Mary Case, ARL president and university librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “Without strong rules to protect an open Internet, service providers could act as gatekeepers and place commercial interests above non-commercial expression. The FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order sets forth strong, clear, and enforceable rules to protect net neutrality. The FCC should look beyond the quantitative cost-benefit analysis suggested in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and recognize the qualitative benefits libraries and higher education provide through access to an open and neutral Internet. There is no reason for the FCC to alter the current rules, which ensure that intellectual freedoms such as education, research, free speech, and innovation can continue to flourish.”

Read the Complete ARL Announcement
Direct to Full Text of Comments Sent to FCC
40 pages; PDF.
The comments linked above were submitted to the FCC by:

• American Association Of Community Colleges American
• Association Of State Colleges And Universities
• American Council On Education
• Association Of American Universities Association Of Public And Land-Grant Universities
• Association Of Research Libraries
• Educause
• National Association Of College And University Business Officers
• The National Association Of Independent Colleges And Universities

See Also: AALL, ALA, and COSLA Files Comments with FCC Re: Net Neutrality

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