The National Black Caucus of State Legislators, National Foundation for Women Legislators, National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, National Conference of Black Mayors, and the National Association of Black County Officials have sent letters to the White House and Congress calling on them to intervene in a rulemaking -- the Federal Communications Commission's open Internet proceeding -- they warn could widen the digital divide rather than close it.
The groups are asking President Obama to keep the FCC focused on the National Broadband Plan. While they said they were "enthusiastic supporters" of an open Internet, a point which both sides of the debate usually concede, they said they were "concerned that some of the net regulations currently being contemplated by the FCC lend themselves to the creation of unmanaged networks that would increase consumer costs, hinder new job creation, diminish service quality and reduce broadband adoption and use, particularly among the underserved."
