Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), held a hearing to discuss the future of the Open Internet.  The hearing, entitled “Why Net Neutrality Matters: Protecting Consumers and Competition Through Meaningful Open Internet Rules”, included witnesses representing a number of stakeholders, including business, consumers and academia.  Witnesses included former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, actress Ruth Livier, and Nuala O'Connor, President & CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Leahy made the following statement:

“This testimony and the testimony we will hear today underscore the importance of why net neutrality matters. It matters for our economic growth and competitiveness. It matters because the Internet is an equalizer that can help break cycles of unemployment and poverty. It matters because the online world is the ultimate tool for free expression and democracy—a tool so powerful that it has helped topple totalitarian governments. Allowing the Internet to become a two-tiered system of “haves” and “have-nots,” controlled by a small number of corporate gatekeepers, would destroy everything that has made it one of the greatest innovations in human history. The FCC must act in a meaningful way to protect its openness.”

"Allowing the Internet to become a two-tiered system of 'haves' and 'have-nots,' controlled by a small number of corporate gatekeepers, would destroy everything that has made it one of the greatest innovations in human history."

In her testimony, Ms. Livier Ms. Livier explained that she got tired of seeing the negative stereotypes of her Latina community in the media so she wrote a TV show but media gatekeepers were not receptive to telling her story. However, the Internet put distribution at her fingertips and she turned her script into a web series. The Open Internet was a way to launch a career and meant that programming on the web was not up to the same few gatekeepers who control the traditional media. Livier testified that everyone deserves to have their stories told and to not have to sit in the shadows for someone to decide whose story is worth telling.

In her testimony, Ms. O’Connor said that we must support the free flow of information and innovation around the world. We must protect an individual’s right and need to participate in the digital world at reasonable costs and speeds. We must support innovation in both public and private policies. The Internet is an enabler of knowledge, community and democracy around the world and the FCC should take action to establish clear and strong rules to create a level playing field for consumers.

This hearing was the second hearing to be held by the Senate Judiciary Committee this year on the issue. To watch the hearing and learn more about the issue, please visit the Senate Judiciary Committee’s website.