U.S. Internet leaders, pioneers urge lawmakers to cancel vote on net neutrality rules

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A group of U.S. Internet leaders and pioneers, including a co-founder of U.S. tech giant Apple Inc., urged the country's lawmakers Monday to cancel a forthcoming vote to repeal net neutrality rules.

In an open letter to the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet, as well as the House Energy Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, which was published online Monday, the Internet leaders and pioneers including Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak said the vote on net neutrality, scheduled for next Thursday, is technically incorrect.

They said they are writing to call on Ajit Pai, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to cancel the Dec. 14 vote on the FCC's proposed Restoring Internet Freedom Order, better known as net neutrality rules.

"The technically-incorrect proposed Order dismantles 15 years of targeted oversight from both Republican and Democratic FCC chairs, who understood the threats that Internet access providers could pose to open markets on the Internet," they said in the letter.

The FCC is going to meet next Thursday to vote on whether to roll back the net neutrality rules, which were meant to protect all online traffic on an equal basis.

The rules, established in 2015 after years of legal wrangling, ban the establishment of fast and slow Internet lanes in order to favor certain online content over others.

The vote next Thursday is most likely to be passed because the five-person FCC is dominated by Republican members, and Pai himself was appointed to the office of chairman by President Donald Trump earlier this year.

Pai has claimed that the rules hurt broadband investment and innovation, an allegation widely challenged by many other Internet users.

"The FCC's proposed Order is based on a flawed and factually inaccurate understanding of Internet technology," the Internet leaders and pioneers said.

The cancellation of net neutrality "removes long-standing FCC oversight over Internet access providers without an adequate replacement to protect consumers, free markets and online innovation," they noted. Enditem