SR1196 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR1196 LRB100 16191 ALS 31312 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Net neutrality is the Internet's guiding principle because it preserves the rights of consumers to communicate freely online; and

WHEREAS, Access to an open Internet gives individuals, associations, investors, and entrepreneurs the power to run small businesses, contribute to the marketplace of ideas, partake in civic engagement, and exercise freedom of speech; and

WHEREAS, The United States of America has had and embraced net neutrality since the creation of the Internet; our nation passed formal net neutrality rules in 2015 to codify the manner in which United States citizens have utilized online services and to protect the individual freedoms and right to information of the residents of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Net neutrality perpetuates the way we use the Internet by prohibiting big utility companies from slowing down, blocking, or charging websites and applications United States citizens want to use; and

WHEREAS, Those open Internet rules ensure that consumers and businesses have access to a fast, fair, and open Internet by ensuring that broadband providers shall not block access to lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices; broadband providers shall not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, or service, or use of non-harmful devices; and broadband providers shall not favor some lawful Internet traffic over other lawful Internet traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind; and

WHEREAS, Without net neutrality, cable and phone companies could carve the Internet into fast and slow lanes, where a company could slow down the content of its competitors or block political opinions it disagreed with; and

WHEREAS, Internet companies could charge extra fees to the few content companies that could afford to pay for preferential treatment, relegating Illinois residents to a slower tier of service; and

WHEREAS, Because the Internet must be a place where companies large and small, as well as individual developers, can compete on a level playing field, the Illinois General Assembly supports net neutrality as a principle that underpins a fast, fair, and open Internet for consumers and businesses to ensure equal access to lawful content by prohibiting paid prioritization, throttling, and blocking; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois State Senate urges the United States Congress and President Trump's administration to advocate for the permanent adoption of net neutrality rules that keep the Internet free and open, allowing all of us to share and access information of our choosing without interference from big utility companies; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the President of the United States, to all members of the United States Senate, to all members of the United States House of Representatives, to all members of the Illinois General Assembly, and to the Governor of the State of Illinois.