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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Liz Rose, Communications Director, 202-265-1490 x 32

Free Press: Clear Net Neutrality Rules Will Promote Investment, Innovation and Competition

WASHINGTON

In a 198-page filing with the Federal Communications Commission
Thursday night, Free Press offered compelling evidence that Network
Neutrality rules will promote investment, encourage innovation, create
jobs, and spur competition.

The extensive comments provide guidance on how the FCC should
structure Net Neutrality rules in order to effectively preserve the
open Internet. The Free Press filing also rebuts the phone and cable
companies' misguided claims about the harms of openness policy.

"There is a reason millions of citizens have told the FCC and Congress to preserve Net Neutrality," said S. Derek Turner,
research director of Free Press. "The basic DNA of openness must not be
destroyed in the short-sighted pursuit of monopoly profits on the part
of the private companies that have made billions by selling access to
this essential resource."

In its filing, Free Press not only shows that Net Neutrality
promotes investment, but that losing this fundamental protection would
unleash harmful, anti-consumer business models. Free Press argues that
the true motive of the phone and cable companies trying to dismantle
Net Neutrality is to protect their legacy voice and video services from
the competition enabled by the open Internet.

The comments also illustrate that a policy of nondiscrimination,
backed by a strict standard for reasonable network management, is
needed to establish clear guidance for consumers, developers and
network operators.

"We urge the commission to quickly adopt Net Neutrality rules and bring certainty to the marketplace," Turner said.

Read Free Press' filing:

www.freepress.net/files/Free_Press_Summary_of_Net_Neutrality_Comments_09-191.pdf

www.freepress.net/files/Free%20Press_09-191_Comments.pdf

Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.

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