Unions: FCC Plan Not 'Necessary or Desirable'

The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the Directors Guild of America, and the Motion Picture Association of America on Thursday to express concern over a proposal to reclassify the Internet as a "telecommunications service." The plan is intended to give the Federal Communications Commission greater leverage in regulating the Internet.

But in a filing with the FCC, the five organizations claim that they do not believe that the plan—referred to as "Title II"—"is either necessary or desirable to achieve the public policy goals the commission has articulated for broadband and an open Internet." The statement focuses on the importance of copyright protections in any Internet-regulation plan.

The statement came on the same day that the Writers Guild of America West filed comments with the FCC in support of Title II.

"We are opposed to all forms of piracy," WGAW president John Wells said. "But we must find solutions that do not trample on First and Fourth Amendment rights. We are confident that a free and open Internet, governed by net neutrality principles, can and must coexist with strong copyright enforcement."