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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Timothy Karr: 201-533-8838,,tkarr@freepress.net

Closed-Door Meetings Continue at the FCC, Cut Out the Public

Free Press Calls on Chairman Genachowski to End Secret Negotiations with Big Corporations

WASHINGTON

The
Federal Communications Commission Chairman is reportedly is continuing
to hold closed-door meetings with a few large phone, cable and Internet
content companies to negotiate a "compromise" on the crucial issue of
Network Neutrality that could jeopardize the free and open Internet.
Consumer groups, small businesses, civil rights leaders and other
stakeholders have been excluded from these secret negotiations.

Free Press President Josh Silver made the following statement:

"Despite public outrage and repeated promises of
transparency, the FCC continues to meet behind closed doors with the
largest companies to negotiate a secret deal that would short circuit
public participation in policymaking that will shape the Internet for a
generation. The great irony here is that the FCC's "transparency" policy
is part of the negotiations behind closed doors.

President Obama and Chairman Genachowski promised to protect
the open Internet, and they should rejected any compromise that tries
to water down real Net Neutrality or riddle it with loopholes. Any
'compromise' that allows the powerful telecom and Internet companies to
prioritize their content over all others is not real Net Neutrality,
it's fake Net Neutrality. A deal struck by Verizon, Comcast, Google
doesn't represent the public interest and is no excuse for the FCC to
abdicate its responsibility to protect Internet users. The future of the
Internet should not be decided in a back room."

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