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Tech CEOs brush back invitation to meet with Congress on net neutrality
Chief executives from some of the world’s leading tech companies have rebuffed an invitation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to meet with Congress in September to discuss net neutrality.
Last week Republican Greg Walden sent a letter to Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet Inc. CEO Larry Page, Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos and Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings, as well as executives from telecom companies to meet with Congress and attempt to end the net neutrality debate that has been referred to as a “ping-pong game.”
It seems now that the tech CEOs have not accepted the invite, according to Recode, in spite of Walden writing in the invitation that everyone was on the same page regarding an outcome that could lead to certain content being throttled or blocked. “I think we are closer than ever to achieving a lasting resolution,” Walden said. “The time has come to get everyone to the table and get this figured out.”
Not one of those tech companies mentioned above has agreed to attend the meeting, which is titled, “Ground rules for the Internet ecosystem.” It was supposed to take place Sept. 7, with a deadline of July 31 for the RSVP. That deadline has now been extended.
In an interview with Recode, a spokesperson confirmed the extension, saying, “The committee has been engaging in productive conversations with all parties and will extend the deadline for response in order to allow for those discussions to continue.”
The no-show has provoked some criticism, raising the question of whether those tech CEOs’ support of net neutrality was just bluster. Many of world’s biggest tech companies got behind a Day of Action in support of a “free and open Internet.” “We strongly support those rules,” Zuckerberg said at the time. “We’re also open to working with members of Congress and anyone else on laws to protect net neutrality.”
The motives behind the snubs have not been made clear, although some believe it might be that during the meeting, Congress will grill the CEOs on other issues outside net neutrality, such as privacy-related questions.
Image: Free Press via Flickr
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