Net Neutrality Last Day: Final Chance To File FCC Proposal Comments

Wednesday is the last day for the public to file comments with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission regarding its plan to undo the net neutrality protections put in place by the previous Obama administration.

Since Donald Trump appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced his “ Restoring Internet Freedom ” plan, the topic has generated a massive outpouring. Through Wednesday morning, the FCC has received 22.8 million comments on the proposal, including 8.5 million in the last 30 days alone.

At stake with Pai’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” proposal is the fate of net neutrality, one of the fundamental ideas that allows for a free and open internet. At its core, net neutrality is the idea that all data on the internet should be treated the same.

Net neutrality is often defined by three tenets or bright line rules: that internet service providers cannot block access to any content, throttle or slow a connection, or offer paid prioritization to companies or services who are willing to pay for preferential treatment.

Net neutrality has existed as a concept for more than a decade and was established as law in the U.S. in 2015 when the Federal Communications Commission, led by Chairman Tom Wheeler, passed the Open Internet Order. The ruling reclassified internet service providers as common carriers and made the internet a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act.

By classifying internet service providers as a utility provider, the FCC was given more control to enforce regulations on those carriers and prevent them from violating the bright line rules of net neutrality.

Chairman Pai has proposed a reversal of the Title II classification, arguing the Open Internet Order has been burdensome on ISPs and oversteps the government’s bounds by setting requirements for how carriers operate their network. Pai has also expressed interest in reconsidering net neutrality’s bright line rules, arguing they may stifle innovation from carriers.

While the debate over net neutrality has been contentious on its own, a meta-controversy has also taken place over comments on the FCC’s proposal.

The comment site supposedly came under siege by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack following a segment on John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight, making it impossible for people to leave comments just after Oliver called for viewers to show their support for current net neutrality protections.

While the FCC holds it was a DDoS attack that took down the site, attempts to have the organization provide documentation of such attacks have been rejected. Lawmakers and activists have called for the release of any information about the attack but have been denied at every turn by the commission.

Shortly after the DDoS attack, a wave of identical comments supporting the FCC’s proposal began appearing. More than 450,000 comments were posted using data gathered from real estate websites to attach personal information to the comments without permission, including names, addresses, and contact information of people who did not post the comments.

A report published by Emprata, a data analytics firm, found more than 7.75 million comments from fake email domains and 1.72 million from unverifiable international users. The study, which was backed by the cable industry lobbying group Broadband for America, found a majority of those comments—69.9 percent—favored keeping current net neutrality protections.

Open Internet advocacy group Fight for the Future noted the Emprata study also found when accounting only for unique comments, there was an overwhelming number in favor of maintaining Title II net neutrality protections, by more than 73 to 1.

How To Leave A Comment On The FCC’s Net Neutrality Proposal

Comments can be made through the FCC’s website. Visit FCC.gov and click on the “Proceedings and Actions” tab at the top of the page. Click “Learn More” under the heading “File a Comment in a Proceeding.”

Those planning to comment will have the ability to fill out a standard filing or use the simplified express comment option to voice an opinion. Use “17-108” as the proceeding number to file comment on the “Restoring Internet Freedom” proposal.

The FCC also set up a dedicated page for comments on the issue — likely due to the overwhelming feedback received during previous comment periods. The page allows users to fill out a template for comments and upload the file directly to the site.