A new poll released by Consumers Union and the Consumer
Federal of America found that a majority of respondents who said the Internet
was important to them found practices like tiering service, paid
prioritization, and service degradation "problematic."
The study also found that, by a margin of four to one,
consumers wanted either Congress or the FCC to adopt policies to insure access.
The report was released on the eve of the House
Communications Subcommittee markup of a resolution that would invalidate the
FCC's new network neutrality rules that, among other things, would prevent
discriminatory access to services or applications.
"Respondents were clear that one thing they didn't want is
for Congress to stop the FCC from taking action against these problematic practices,"
said CU Communications Policy Counsel for Parul Desai. "When you couple
the findings of this new survey with the support from communications
companies, Internet companies and public interest groups who all back the FCC's
ability to enforce the new network neutrality rules it's clear that the
lawmakers seeking to block the FCC from implementing the order are out of line
with the interests of the public."
CU's Mark Cooper told B&C that, obviously, the
blocking move was the issue "on the table," but that the survey
showed the same level of support for government action as one conducted five
years ago. He also said they would make sure they got the survey in front of policymakers.
The poll was a random telephone survey of 1,000 people,
conducted by Opinion Research Corp. and commissioned by the two groups.
Those wishing to check out the details of the poll,
including how all the questions were asked, can go here.
"This is not a "push" pole," said Cooper, which is a term
of art for propaganda masquerading as a study.
