Tech firms set out opposition to new ‘net neutrality’ plan

More than 100 technology firms, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon. com, have written to US telecom regulators to oppose a new "net neutrality" plan that would regulate how internet providers manage web traffic.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Tom Wheeler and the agency's four commissioners, the companies warned of a "grave threat to the internet", and called on the FCC to take the necessary steps to ensure that the internet remains an open platform for speech and commerce.

The letter came amid calls for a delay in a vote on the plan scheduled for May 15th.

"I believe that rushing headlong into a rulemaking next week fails to respect the public response to his (Wheeler's) proposal," FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said yesterday in remarks prepared for delivery to an industry meeting.

Ms Rosenworcel called for a delay of at least a month on Mr Wheeler’s plan.

With two Republican commissioners broadly opposed to regulation of internet traffic, the support of two Democrats on the panel is critical.

In their letter, the technology and internet companies, which ranged from household names to small startups, called Commission rules should not permit “individualised bargaining and discrimination”, the companies said. (Reuters)