TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Sanford Taylor, Information Technology Director
George Gabriel, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Request by Mayor Howorth to Authorize the Mayor to Sign a Pledge in Support of Net Neutrality.
CONSIDER SIGNING PLEDGE
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
At the request of Mayor Howorth, staff recommends City Council consider signing the "Mayors for Net Neutrality Pledge" in support of Net Neutrality.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with the recommended action.
BACKGROUND:
Net Neutrality is the idea, principle, or requirement that Internet Service Providers (ISP) should or must treat all Internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination. Proponents of Net Neutrality believe that individuals should be free to access all content and applications equally, regardless of the source, without Internet Service Providers discriminating against specific online services or websites. For example, an ISP may not charge more for sites that stream movies or promote a specific agenda. This is also referred to as the open internet.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications and is an independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress. The FCC Commission is responsible for implementing and enforcing America's communications law and regulations.
On February 26th, 2015, the FCC voted to pass the Open Internet Order, enacting Net Neutrality rules that limited ISP's from blocking, throttling, or allowing the paid prioritization of internet access, amongst other regulations.
Following administrative leadership changes within the federal government, the FCC began to explore the idea of removing the Net Neutrality passed in 2015. On December 14, 2017, the FCC passed the Restoring Internet Freedom Order wh...
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