New Federal Communications Commission Chairman taking a stand for Net Neutrality

One of the most refreshing changes to take place in Washington, D.C. since the election of Barack Obama has been the change in leadership at the Federal Communications Commission.

With Kevin Martin gone, we finally have a Commission that believes in the basic principles that underly the democratic Internet.

New Chairman Julius Genachowski has made it clear that his agency will fight for equality for all content online and punish those that want to make some websites more accessible than others. Here's Genachowski during an interview with The Hill (hat tip to YES! Magazine)

“One thing I would say so that there is no confusion out there is that this FCC will support net neutrality and will enforce any violation of net neutrality principles,” Genachowski said when asked what he could do in his position to keep the Internet fair, free and open to all Americans.

The statement by Genachowski comes as the commission remains locked in litigation with Comcast. The cable provider is appealing a court decision by challenging the FCC’s authority to penalize the company for limiting Web traffic to its consumers.

Cable and telecom providers have no right to build barriers to prevent access to any part of the Web. The next step in ensuring that the Internet is open free of content discrimination is to make it the law of the United States.

That's the new priority for the SaveTheInternet Coalition, of which the Northwest Progressive Institute is a member.