What if Discovery Education or Safari Montage video distribution ended up costing your district more if they had to work with Internet Service Providers to guarantee their videos have the same pipeline as YouTube? Would a small innovative startup be able to compete in this market alongside these larger companies? Could a group hosting Open Education Resources compete with electronic delivery where large textbook publishers might have agreements to guarantee their digital delivery has priority over other traffic? If you are concerned about these situations potentially impact your and your work, you need to be concerned about Net Neutrality protections! PAECT's state CoSN affiliate supplied us with the following press release:

Express your opposition to eliminating the FCC's Net Neutrality protections. When you reach the FCC's express comment page, you must reference proceeding "17-108."

CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) CEO Keith Krueger today issued the following statement on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) net neutrality plans:

“CoSN, and the school technology leaders we serve, are concerned about the potential, unexpected consequences of Chairman Ajit Pai’s aggressive net neutrality plan. The FCC should carefully consider the proposal’s implications for teaching and learning before leaping into these murky waters.

“For example, will school districts be stuck with the bill for higher transport costs levied on digital content providers? Simply relying on carriers to disclose information about pricing and practices would be a flimsy guardrail for powerful Internet service providers (ISPs), especially for smaller, rural and high-cost districts that lack competition and meaningful market power.

“We are also concerned how the tiered pricing and fast lanes – potentially structured to benefit incumbent companies – would disadvantage new entrants into the education technology market. How will the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission protect startups from ISPs that prefer better-resourced incumbents?

“Finally, if this policy change aims to stimulate network investment, what guarantee will the FCC provide to ensure ISPs target underserved communities – especially rural, poorly connected school districts?

“Before rolling net neutrality back, the FCC should take a very cautious look at its impact on schools, students and families nationwide.”