Obama in 2007 Video: 'I am a Strong Supporter of Net Neutrality'

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Barack Obama speaks with students at Coe College during an MTV/MySpace presidential forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007.

Image: David Lienemann/Associated Press

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-05-02 14:51:13 UTC

In the early stages of the net neutrality debate in 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama made a clear pledge to defend the open Internet.

Seven years later, things seem to have changed. After a court ruling struck down part of the FCC's net neutrality guidelines in January, the FCC announced a plan to allow for limited agreements between Internet providers and content providers, potentially paving the way for faster lanes and a two-tiered web — a nightmare scenario for Internet freedom advocates.

See also: How Open Will the FCC's 'Open Internet' Really Be?

A new campaign, launched by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, criticizes the new FCC plan, led by current commissioner and former cable industry lobbyist Tom Wheeler. But the campaign, most of all, is about reminding Obama of his past promise.

Responding to a question from Joe Niederberger, a former computer engineer, who is now behind the online campaign called NoSlowLane.com, Obama clearly endorsed net neutrality.

"I am a strong supporter of net neutrality," Obama said during a 2007 campaign event broadcast on MTV.

Internet providers should not "charge different rates to different websites" because "that destroys one of the best things about the Internet which is that there is this incredible equality there," Obama added. He then used an argument that net neutrality advocates often repeat: Without equality, the Internet giants we're so familiar with today would never have existed.

"Facebook, Myspace, [...] Google, might not have been started if you had not had a level playing field for whoever has got the best idea," Obama said. "And I want to maintain that basic principle in how the Internet functions. So as President I'm going to make sure that that is the principle that my FCC commissioners are applying as we move forward."

In the last few months, as the debate over net neutrality has come back to the headlines, Obama and the White House have been mostly silent on the issue, leaving the FCC take the lead. It's important to note that Obama isn't the only one responsible for saving net neutrality, and blaming him might not be entirely fair. Congress perhaps deserves some of the blame, too, although some members of Capitol Hill are trying to do something about it with a recently introduced bill.

But the president does have a lot of influence over the issues through the FCC, which has authority to regulate the telecommunications industry. And it was Obama who appointed Julius Genachowski, the FCC commissioner responsible for the flawed 2010 Open Internet rules partially struck down in January, as well as his successor, Tom Wheeler.

Wheelers appointment was criticized at the time for the commissioner's past as a cable and wireless industry lobbyist, which some saw a bad omen for net neutrality.

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Topics: Barack Obama, FCC, net neutrality, Politics, U.S., US & World, World