When Morgan LaRocca heard that federal regulators were considering new rules for Internet traffic, the 29-year-old from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., decided to travel to Washington, D.C., to urge that it not abandon net neutrality.
"I think net neutrality is vital to preserving the Internet as we know it and preserving the free speech we have on it," LaRocca said Wednesday as she gathered with dozens of other protesters outside the headquarters of the Federal Communications Commission as the agency prepared to vote on a new proposal.
Net neutrality is the concept that all legal Internet traffic should be treated equally.
That had been the FCC's policy until a federal court in January tossed out the agency's open Internet rules. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed revised rules that would allow Internet service providers to charge websites for faster delivery of their content.
The proposal triggered an outcry from Internet companies, online activists, public interest groups and many liberal lawmakers. Protesters began gathering outside the FCC last week.
FCC commissioners were scheduled to vote Wednesday to start formal rule-making procedure based on Wheeler's plan. The process would involve soliciting public comment over the next four months, with a goal of passing new rules by the end of the year.
LaRocca and other protesters oppose Wheeler's plan to allow so-called pay-for-priority arrangements. They want the FCC to subject Internet service providers to tougher, utility-like regulation, similar to phone companies, so they would not be able to set up high-speed online toll lanes.
Groups such as Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and Free Press have organized protests and petition drives pushing the FCC to abandon Wheeler's proposal and authorize tougher regulation of broadband providers.
In response to the backlash, Wheeler revised his proposal this week, specifically asking for public feedback on whether pay-for-priority deals should be banned and if the FCC should reclassify broadband providers for stricter regulation.
The chief executives of many of those providers, including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, wrote to Wheeler this week warning against the tougher common-carrier regulations. They said those rules "would impose great costs, allowing unprecedented government micromanagement of all aspects of the Internet economy."
Most Republicans also oppose such a move, including the FCC's two GOP commissioners.
Protesters worry that if broadband providers are allowed to charge for faster content delivery, it would squelch free speech on the Internet for average Americans.
"If there's a fast lane, corporations are going to be able to pay for that fast lane, which means they're going to be able to speak louder than activist groups," said Nathan White of Demand Progress as he stood outside the FCC's headquarters Wednesday. "It's something we've got to fight.
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