Today Shapeways is excited to join Engine Advocacy, along with Dwolla, Fandor, Foursquare, General Assembly, GitHub, Imgur, Keen, and Mapbox, in strong support of net neutrality by submitting a brief to the DC Circuit in support of strong open internet rules.
Shapeways is a longtime supporter of net neutrality, and was very involved with the FCC’s most recent review of net neutrality rules. We were excited that the FCC approved strong rules earlier this year. As expected, net neutrality opponents have challenges these rules in court.
Our brief explains why net neutrality is so important to Shapeways. We rely on an open internet to be able to bring 3D printing to the entire internet, not just the internet served by ISPs that decide to approve us. One of the great things about opening a Shapeways shop is that a single shop can connect with anyone, anywhere with an internet connection. Anyone can build a great app on top of our APIs without having to negotiate individual access deals with ISPs across the country.
The case itself will be argued on December 4th in Washington, DC. We are doing everything we can to make sure that the court understands how important the rules are to everyone who relies on an open internet both before and after that day.
If you want more information, or to track developments in net neutrality more closely, our friends at Engine and Public Knowledge are worth checking out to stay completely up to date.