Washington — The Computer & Communications Industry Association, which has fought to preserve open internet access for more than two decades, filed its petition today to intervene in the net neutrality case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. CCIA has standing to directly intervene in this action because many of members will be affected by the FCC’s latest order that would abdicate its role in enforcing nondiscrimination rules on the internet. CCIA previously filed comments and reply comments urging the FCC to not pursue its efforts that only benefitted a handful of ISPs at the expense of everyone else.
CCIA is the leading tech trade association representing a diverse group of tech companies from leading internet services like Facebook, Google, Netflix and Uber to internet providers. CCIA has advocated on internet access and competition issues for over two decades including legal briefs supporting the 2015 Open Internet Order, which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld in 2016.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“This order MUST NOT AND WILL NOT STAND! CCIA is committed to ensuring that the Internet will be governed by the principles of net neutrality and open access. Whether through court proceedings such as this, through future regulatory return to good sense, or through future legislation, CCIA will not stop until we secure strong, reasonable and enforceable rules protecting the Internet and its billions of users.
“The FCC’s brazen and unjustified action harms internet users, businesses and innovation. CCIA looks forward to offering strong, substantive legal arguments about the importance of an open internet for the digital economy and America’s global competitiveness.
“The FCC was created by Congress to protect consumers’ access to communications like the internet. The agency clearly has authority to oversee broadband internet access. To go back two years later and abdicate that authority goes against the internet’s history and is not supported by the law.”