ACE and a number of other higher education and library organizations sent a letter
March 29 to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Ajit Pai
outlining a set of net neutrality principles they recommend should form
the basis of any review of the FCC’s Open Internet Order.
That order, which the FCC voted 3-2 to approve
in 2015, requires broadband internet service to be regulated as a
public utility, a move designed to ensure that no content is blocked and
that the internet is not divided into pay-to-play fast lanes. In a 2-1
vote last June, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld the rules.
On the higher education front, the rules say that internet service
providers (ISPs) cannot limit home and mobile access to colleges and
universities through practices that, for example, boost online
entertainment at the expense of online learning.
The rules also prevent practices that could increase the cost of
higher education by requiring institutions to pay ISPs to ensure
effective home and mobile access to online courses, resources and
services.
“Maintaining access to the information fast lane is essential to the
academic and civic missions of our colleges and universities and to the
important work done every day at those institutions by millions of
students, researchers, faculty and staff,” said ACE President Molly
Corbett Broad in a news release accompanying the letter. “These net
neutrality principles, now more than ever, are needed to ensure that the
Internet remains open, accessible and affordable to all.”
The cable and telecom industry and many Republicans have criticized
federal efforts on net neutrality as burdensome and unnecessary.
As The New York Times pointed
out yesterday, Ajit Pai was one of the two commission members who voted
against the net neutrality rules in 2015. Since becoming chair, Pai has
indicated that he plans to either roll back or decline to enforce many
consumer protection regulations created during the Obama administration,
including those regarding net neutrality, the paper reported.