A 'Free Ride': Silicon Valley Tech Companies Sit Out Net Neutrality Fight Amid FCC Vote
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — The Federal Communications Commission will take a vote Thursday morning adopting rules for broadband providers to keep the Internet neutral—a long battle that, according to one Stanford scholar, Silicon Valley tech companies have shied away from.
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The rules proposed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will restrict Internet service providers--cable and phone companies— from creating what are viewed as toll roads on the Internet: blocking websites, slowing traffic or coming up with pay-for-priority arrangements for some firms.
The new rules, are expected to be passed, and according to Marvin Ammori, an affiliate scholar at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society and a tech company advisor on net neutrality, it's the New York tech community that is "completely owning this victory." He said they have been standing up and defending an open internet—not the California Giants tech giants.
"I think it's actually shortsightedness on the part of the California companies. There are exceptions: WordPress.com (and) Chris Kelly—a former Facebook lawyer who's now a co-owner of the Sacramento Kings. There are a few out there who were trying to get other California folks engaged but most of them were just either afraid to fight or just didn't care and didn't get it," he said.
Ammori said the net neutrality rules will likely benefit the future of innovation for the California tech community and that the companies here have taken a "free ride."
"That's like saying: 'I'm happy to eat dinner and not pay. I'm happy to show up after the battle has been won and be part of the dinner party," he said.
Wheeler said the new rules are intended to ensure a free and open Internet. Without net neutrality rules, ISPs could charge more money from companies like Netflix or Amazon to speed up traffic to their sites.
Telecom and cable companies are likely to file lawsuits immediately following the ruling, Ammori said.
