EDUCAUSE Comments: Higher Ed Supports Maintaining Net Neutrality

Abstract

(July 18, 2017) EDUCAUSE joined several other higher education leadership associations, including the American Council on Education and the Association of Research Libraries, in responding to the 2017 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule-making on net neutrality (WC Docket Number 17-108, “Restoring Internet Freedom”). Submitted on July 17, 2017, the higher education comments call for the FCC to maintain its 2015 net neutrality rules, which are based on its legal authority under Title II of the Communications Act. The comments note, though, that the FCC’s 2017 proposal to reclassify broadband services under Title I of the Act does not eliminate its authority to set strong, enforceable net neutrality rules. Rather, the participating groups illustrate how the FCC can use its legal authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act to maintain such protections.