The American Library Association (ALA) supports the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) efforts to maintain an open Internet by codifying the principles of network neutrality, including two new principles recently introduced by Chairman Julius Genachowski.
The ALA affirmed its support for all six principles in its filing to the FCC in response to the commission’s call for comments in the matter of Preserving the Open Internet Broadband Industry Practices.
The fifth principle of nondiscrimination is essential to ensuring equal access to content on the Internet.
“With the ever closer relationship between service providers and content, we think there are (unfortunately) many opportunities for service providers to abuse their gatekeeper status by picking and choosing what content they might privilege with faster access,” the ALA’s comments state.
Additionally, the ALA asserts that the sixth principle will promote transparency of service providers’ practices, including how they manage their networks. This information will allow libraries and consumers to make informed choices among competing providers.