Large US tech firms plan 'go slow' day in protest over net neutrality rules

Some of the world’s largest tech firms are planning a “go slow” day next week in protest of proposals that could create fast lanes on the internet for some companies.

On 10 September, tech firms including Etsy, FourSquare, KickStarter, Mozilla, Reddit and Vimeo will install a widget on their sites to show how they believe the internet would look if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overturns “net neutrality” rules.

The FCC is currently redrawing its rules after a series of legal challenges from cable and telecoms companies undermined its authority to regulate the internet. One proposal could allow internet service providers to offer fast lanes to higher paying customers, a move critics charge would break net neutrality – the principle that all traffic is treated equally online.

Evan Greer, co-founder of Fight for the Future, a pressure group helping to organise the protest day, said in an email: “Net neutrality is tough to explain to people, so we wanted to organize an action that actually shows the world what’s at stake. I think the three most hated words on the internet right now are ‘Please wait, loading ... ’ Unless internet users unite in defense of net neutrality, we could be seeing those dreaded ‘loading’ wheels a lot more often on some of our favorite websites, while monopolistic companies get to decide which content gets seen by the most people.”

Several other large internet companies are expected to back the day of action, which is being coordinated by Silicon Valley lobby group Engine. Engine will direct people to call or email policymakers with their concerns.

A similar campaign led to the FCC being flooded with comments on the net neutrality legislation – so many that at one point its systems collapsed under the strain.

“With over one million public comments already filed with the FCC, much has been written about why the FCC’s proposed rules would damage the internet, but the FCC needs to see firsthand how Internet fast lanes would devastate startups,” Engine said in a blogpost.

The FCC is redrafting its rules at the same time as it assesses the proposed merger of Comcast, the largest cable company, with Time Warner, the second largest. The FCC is also reviewing a proposal to overturn state laws that ban some local municipalities from expanding their own high speed internet service to compete with the cable companies.