Outgoing US FCC chair calls for further protection of net neutrality

In a public speech made less that one week before his planned resignation as chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Tom Wheeler called for further protection of net neutrality, saying that ‘the open Internet is the law of the land’. In the context of announced intentions of FCC members to reverse the commission’s net neutrality order, Wheeler noted that ‘tampering with the rules means taking away protections consumers and the online work enjoy today’, and ‘threatens any innovation that requires connectedness and with it the productivity gains, job creation, and international competitiveness required for America’s economic growth’.