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As the CEO of a young company, I spend most of my time thinking about serving our community of one million sellers, leading 600 employees, building web and mobile products, and managing growth. The last thing I want to think about is an arcane legal proposal at the Federal Communications Commission.
But the FCC has proposed an end to the open Internet. This proposal has alarmed the Etsy community and employees. One seller, Beth in Oregon, said “If internet users find it too difficult to load our websites and see our products, it will be impossible for us to grow or succeed.” The FCC proposal threatens any business that relies on the Internet to reach consumers, stream video, process payments, advertise services or products, speak their minds, or do just about anything else. It therefore demands my time, as it should yours.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for the business world, because the future of the Internet is the future of American business.
It’s time for the business community to take a public stand in support of the open Internet. Digital rights organizations are calling for a day of action on Wednesday, September 10, when businesses across the Internet will mobilize their communities to contact DC policymakers directly. Etsy will proudly take part. I call upon all my fellow CEOs, small business owners, employees, and Internet users to join the action on September 10 — and encourage their bosses to do so — for three simple reasons.
1. The Future of Our Businesses Is at Stake
If you missed this late-night explanation, we’re fighting for the basic principle that cable and phone companies should treat all websites and applications equally and without new tolls. For years, cable and phone providers have lobbied for the right to charge companies a fee to reach users, creating fast lanes for those willing and able to pay, and slow lanes for the rest of us.
Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler put out a proposal that would give these companies everything they asked for. And it would kill permissionless innovation and free expression. Companies would succeed because of deals struck with cable companies, not because of superior products. That’s why we filed comments and met with the FCC chairman to explain the potential harm to our business and our one million sellers, 88 percent of whom are women and 18 percent of whom make their entire living selling on Etsy.
Etsy offices. Etsy
The current proposal doesn’t just threaten tech or media companies. It threatens any business that relies on the Internet to reach consumers.
Research from Google and Microsoft shows that delays of milliseconds result in fewer page views and fewer sales in both the short and long term. This is true not just for high-bandwidth services like video, but for any content delivered over the Internet. That means businesses in every industry will suffer under the chairman’s proposal. This is a fight for all of us.
2. Policymakers Need to Hear From Businesses
Average citizens and digital rights organizers have spent the last six months sounding the alarm to save the Internet as we know it. At first, these folks were received like an early stage startup — they faced apparently impossible odds and almost everyone wrote them off for taking on a noble but doomed fight. But then something clicked. Three million Americans filed comments in favor of an open Internet. Hundreds of companies, investors, and civil rights groups joined the movement. Fourteen Senators, nearly 40 members of Congress, and the New York City and San Francisco mayors called on the FCC to establish a clear, bright-line rule banning paid prioritization under any circumstances.
Even President Obama spoke out to oppose Internet fast lanes, which the FCC chairman’s proposed rule would plainly authorize. Policymakers have heard from the public and civil libertarians. Different messengers click for different policymakers. Some are waiting to hear directly from the businesses that will be harmed by the FCC’s dangerous proposal. That’s us and the micro-businesses we represent.
3. Now Is the Moment
The action is on September 10 for several good reasons. It is just a few days before the end of the FCC comment period, on the 15th. Plus, Congress is only in town for two weeks before recessing to campaign for reelection. We want our communities to reach out to DC while members of Congress are there and thinking about their reelection. Activists from Fight for the Future, Demand Progress, and Free Press, working with Engine Board Member and lawyer Marvin Ammori, have created tools available at http://ift.tt/1nS8brH that empower people to send comments and call their representatives directly, so most companies should have enough time to implement them.
To be sure, the cable and phone companies are counting on our apathy. After all, businesses are often more conservative than activists and tend to not want to jump alone. But not this time. Our employees care, our communities are invested, and after months of progress, we now have a real shot at victory.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for the business world, because the future of the Internet is the future of American business. I ask my friends in the business community to join us on September 10. Let’s get this done, so that we can all go back to serving our customers and building our businesses without spending the rest of our lives petitioning the FCC and cable companies for permission to innovate and grow.
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