Progressives keep up push against FCC ‘fast lanes’

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says that the Federal Communications Commission’s new plans for the Internet would turn it into “the laggiest game you’ve ever played.”

In a new video made by the animation firm Pixel Valley Studio, the liberal group calls on members to sign a petition urging the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a public utility like telephone service. That would enable the commission to enact tough new regulations preventing Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon from providing different levels of service to different websites.

{mosads}In the video sent to the groups’ nearly 1 million members, an animated woman warns of the perils of the FCC’s current plans from the year 2084.

“You know that Internet you love so much?” she says. “Here in 2084, that’s all been moved” to the “slow lane.”

“That kills the startups and competition. Innovation dried up. And all we have left is the junk that the big corporations want us to see,” she says.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has been protesting FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s current plans for net neutrality rules through the website NoSlowLane.com, which debuted earlier this month. They point to a promise President Obama made during his 2008 campaign that he would only support FCC commissioners who believed in the concept, which calls for all content to be treated equally online.

Wheeler’s current proposal would allow Internet providers and websites like Netflix to make deals for “fast lanes” that allow for faster access, which has inflamed net neutrality advocates. Wheeler has said that the commission would prevent those deals from hurting competition or consumers.

So far, more than 140,000 supporters have signed the liberal group’s petition.