Free Press activist: Ted Cruz is confused about what ‘net neutrality’ even means

Texas conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R) said in a statement on Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission should be stripped of its ability to regulate net neutrality.

“Congress, not an unelected commission, should take the lead” on Internet policy, he said.

Matt Wood, policy director for the Internet freedom group Free Press, told Raw Story that Cruz’s suggestions about the law are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation, and that the lawmaker’s proposal would make Internet freedom vulnerable to the interests of powerful corporations like AT&T and Comcast.


After years of wrangling over whether Internet providers could create so-called “fast lanes” for their content, the FCC bunted on Thursday. The regulatory commission passed “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet,” a set of preliminary rules meant to protect net neutrality, but leaving broad swaths of policy open-ended and asking for public discussion.

Activists on all sides of the question have made their cases for weeks. Internet Service Providers and their supporters like Cruz would like to keep regulations off the books altogether, allowing the companies to set their own policies with regards to broadband. They argue that the FCC doesn’t have the jurisdiction to impose rules on ISPs.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/16/free-press-activist-ted-cruz-is-confused-about-what-net-neutrality-even-means/