[The Soup Nazi]

From Demand Progress:

Yesterday was bad. But here's how we can still win on net neutrality.

If there’s one question I’ve heard since the Trump FCC’s disastrous vote yesterday to kill net neutrality, it’s “So what can we do now?”

As nearly everyone seems to grasp, yesterday’s vote is legitimately bad news. It opens the door to monopolistic corporations like Verizon or Comcast blocking, censoring, or throttling your internet traffic whenever they choose.

They can now set up fast lanes on the internet for customers or sites and apps that pay expensive shake down fees – and internet slow lanes for everyone else.

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee was not exaggerating when he called yesterday a “dark day for the internet.”

Today I want to take the time to lay out our strategy moving forward. Even if Verizon and its Big Cable friends won this round, we can still absolutely win this fight and save the open internet.

This a bit longer than our usual emails at Demand Progress, but I hope you read the whole thing.

We’re facing tough odds, but we’ve won incredible victories before even when the deck was stacked against us. Like when “everyone knew” the internet censorship bills SOPA and PIPA would sail through Congress and screw up the future of the web – until millions of internet users like you stood up and shut down that terrible legislation. Achieving the same thing again will take everyone knowing how they can help save the free and open internet we all love.

And another thing. As you read this strategy memo, please consider becoming a donor to Demand Progress so we have the resources needed to carry out this plan and save net neutrality.


PART 1: Congress

The Good News: Congress Can Overturn the FCC’s Vote Against Net Neutrality

The most important thing for you to know right now is that Congress has the power to throw out the FCC’s vote, with a powerful tool called the Congressional Review Act.

This law gives Congress 60 legislative days – which can take 4 to 6 months – to overturn a rule issued by a federal agency with a “resolution of disapproval.” Crucially, it is not subject to the filibuster, so it can pass the Senate with just 51 votes.

The CRA was used earlier this year to roll back a lot of important Obama-era rules protecting consumers, but this is a chance for us to use it to benefit ordinary people. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA) have already announced they will introduce a resolution to overturn the FCC vote.

In the Senate, the overwhelming majority of the 48 Democrats made it clear they oppose what the FCC did yesterday, and Senator-Elect Doug Jones from Alabama is an outspoken supporter of net neutrality. Then there's Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who wrote a letter to Ajit Pai urging him to cancel yesterday’s vote and preserve net neutrality rules. If we can hold all the Democrats in line and keep Collins we’re at 50 votes. We'd need to flip just 1 more.

In the House of Representatives, several Republicans spoke out opposing the FCC’s vote, and House Republicans are still smarting from the backlash after they voted to eliminate broadband privacy rules stopping your internet provider from selling your browsing history without your permission.

It will be critical that every lawmaker hears a deafening roar from their constituents to know they must ignore the Big Cable lobbyists and vote with their constituents. As always, you can contact your member of Congress through BattleForTheNet.com and promote the site to your networks.


The Threat: Bad, ISP-backed Legislation is Rearing its Ugly Head

Equally important will be fighting to stop terrible legislation backed by Big Cable lobbyists from getting through Congress.

Lobbyists at Verizon, Comcast, and the rest have had yesterday circled on their calendars months. They’re already crying that Congress should immediately pass legislation that doesn’t have all the protections of net neutrality, like blocking “paid prioritization” (fast lanes and slow lanes) and stopping throttling or censoring of traffic. “Compromise” and “regulatory certainty” are their buzzwords.

Let’s be clear about something: Nothing short of restoring the full Open Internet Order that was the law of the land as of yesterday morning is an acceptable move by Congress.

That's why we're pushing for the CRA to overturn the FCC's repeal vote entirely. Defenders of the open internet should be on guard against fake “compromise” legislation that would just cement bad rules in place permanently, like what longtime enemy of the free and open internet Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is already talking about introducing.


PART 2: The Courts

Trump’s FCC Chair Ajit Pai can try to ignore the overwhelming public support for net neutrality (83% of Americans oppose his net neutrality repeal in the latest poll).

But here’s one group he can’t ignore: federal judges.

And the FCC could be in trouble with the courts. Ajit Pai’s order repealing net neutrality and the full 2015 Open Internet Order is on very shaky legal ground.

As the inventor of the term “net neutrality” Tim Wu wrote last month, “government agencies are not free to abruptly reverse longstanding rules on which many have relied without a good reason, such as a change in factual circumstances. A mere change in F.C.C. ideology isn’t enough.”

Read his full New York Times op-ed for the details, but suffice it to say the FCC’s legal case is weak.

Already, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality with a group of state attorneys general. Our allies at Free Press have also announced they will file suit, and we can expect many more cases and intervenors to emerge over the coming days.


PART 3: Political Consequences for Opponents of Net Neutrality

The level of outrage over net neutrality repeal is not hard to measure:

— 83% of Americans oppose the Trump FCC’s repeal of net neutrality

— Our Team Internet activists organized and carried out more than 1,000 public protests at Verizon stores, in-person meetings with congressional offices, and appearances at congressional town halls over the past months

— People like you have made more than 1 million phone calls to Congress to save net neutrality through BattleForTheNet.com

— Our coalition was able to collect a stunning 2.5 million public comments to the FCC supporting net neutrality in just one day on our massive July 12 day of action

Members of Congress might have thought that they could hide from this issue. But with Congress able to overturn the FCC’s vote, we can get every single member of Congress on the record.

We need to make it crystal clear whose side each member of Congress is on: Their constituents who want to keep the free and open internet? Or a small set of massive ISPs who want to pad their profits by ripping off their customers?

As we head toward the 2018 mid-term elections, we can make sure that net neutrality is on every voter’s mind. The more net neutrality is a voting issue, the better are chances are of winning this.

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