'Net Activists Propose Policy Platform

Internet activist groups including Free Press, Public Knowledge and Common Cause, have outlined the Internet policy platform they want the presidential candidates to stand on and it is focused on six main points: Free speech, access, choice, privacy, transparency and openness.

For them--a group that coalesced around successfullly blocking the SOPA/PIPA legislation in 2012--that means defending the reclassification of ISPs as Title II common carriers, preventing zero rating plans and data caps, stemming consolidation, erring on the side of privacy over government surviellance, don't overprotect copyrights, protect municipal broadband buildouts, and much more.

The groups outlined those in a proposed "Internet Policy Platform."

"This policy platform reflects the principles and priorities of millions of internet voters," they said. "The 2016 election cycle has highlighted the potential of a democratized internet. Communities of color are organizing online to amplify issues of concern and make their voices heard. Those who traditional media outlets have neglected, overlooked or misrepresented are speaking out with less fear of being silenced by corporate or overnment gatekeepers."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.