US: Facebook, Google lead opposition against net neutrality proposals

More than 100 companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon, have reportedly sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission warning the regulator against its proposed rules regarding net neutrality, to be revealed next week.

After earlier proposals to protect the open Internet were struck down, the FCC is reportedly planning on a watered-down version of net neutrality that critics say will allow the largest companies to pay Internet service providers for priority streaming of their content, creating a two-tier system that works against smaller content providers.

Now, some of the largest companies have joined the opposition, warning the FCC of “grave consequences” should its reported rules come into effect.

The letter, addressed to FCC head Tom Wheeler, was also signed by eBay, LinkedIn and other conglomerates that warned the rules would “enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against the Internet companies and impose new tolls on the them,” the letter said.

The FCC is not expected to reveal its revised net neutrality proposals until next week, but its reported plans were leaked weeks ago.

Full content: Computer World

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