February, 22 2018, 10:45am EDT
Net Neutrality Supporters Plan Internet-Wide Day Of Action On Feb 27 As FCC Repeal Enters Federal Register This Week
Publication of the rules starts clock on window of 60 legislative days to pass Senate CRA resolution to block the repeal. Operation: #OneMoreVote day of action will flood Senate with calls and emails to secure the final vote.
WASHINGTON
The FCC's resoundingly unpopular net neutrality repeal was published in the Federal Register this morning, February 22nd, which officially begins a countdown of 60 legislative days to pass a resolution to reverse the order. Net neutrality supporters and major web platforms like Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Medium, and GitHub have already planned Operation: #OneMoreVote, a major Internet-wide day of action, for next Tuesday, February 27, to secure the final vote needed to pass the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in the Senate.
The day of action is being organized by Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and Free Press Action Fund, the groups behind BattleForTheNet.com and many of the largest online protests in history. Internet users, small businesses, online communities, public interest groups and popular websites will harness their reach to flood lawmakers with calls, emails and tweets, and constituent meetings in search of the final vote needed to pass a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that would block the FCC's unpopular repeal of net neutrality protections.
"Now it's officially go time, and the Internet is gearing up for a hell of a fight," said Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. "The CRA is the clearest path to restore net neutrality protections that never should have been taken away in the first place. A vote is imminent, and every senator needs to decide right now whether they're going to listen to their constituents or go down in history as having voted against the free and open Internet."
Well-known companies like Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Medium, Vimeo, Imgur, Namecheap, DuckDuckGo, Private Internet Access, Fiverr, Patreon, and Sonos have announced their participation, along with groups like Consumer Reports, the ACLU, Common Cause, Engine, CCIA, Change.org, and Daily Kos. Participants continue to stream in as the date approaches.
50 senators have already come out in support of the CRA, which would overturn the FCC's December 14th decision and restore net neutrality protections that prevent Internet providers from controlling the web with throttling, censorship, and new fees. The February 27th push is laser-focused on securing the final vote needed to pass the resolution in the Senate. Advocates will also take the fight to the House of Representatives, where net neutrality supporters plan to wage an all-out war to reach the 218 supporters (a simple majority) needed to force the CRA to the floor.
If the CRA passes both houses, it will go to the President's desk. The White House--which has criticized mergers and other actions by large telecom companies--has been noticeably quiet about the FCC repeal, which was unpopular with voters from across the political spectrum including 3 out of 4 Republicans. While a veto is possible, the reality is that no one can predict what Trump will do.
Over the last year net neutrality has emerged as a mainstream political issue, with millions of people contacting their lawmakers, broad participation from small businesses, major web companies, and even brands like Burger King, and hundreds of volunteer-led grassroots protests, in-district meetings, and petition deliveries to congressional offices. Previous days of action on July 12 and December 12 drove unprecedented numbers of phone calls, emails, and comments to lawmakers and the FCC.
Fight for the Future is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible. We fight for a future where technology liberates -- not oppresses -- us.
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