AUSTIN, Texas—South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival officials have confirmed that Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is expected to speak at 9:30 a.m., Monday, March 14, at the Town Lake ballroom in the Radisson Hotel located at 111 East Cesar Chavez Street in downtown Austin.
Franken, a former Saturday Night Live star and current U.S. senator, will kick off a series of presentations regarding net neutrality with current policy concerns and how the debate affects democracy and the free flow of ideas. His speech, titled, “An Open Internet: The Last, Best Hope for Independent Producers,” will conclude with a question and answer session taken from questions submitted prior to the start of the lecture.
Much of the net neutrality debate centers around whether telecommunications companies are allowed to impose a tiered service model of Internet services to subscribers and charge accordingly. Many, including Franken, believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms. Opponents argue that bandwidth availability is compromised by net neutrality and that it stifles profits that could be invested for further broadband expansion.
In a statement released by his office, Franken said: “Net neutrality, the principle that content should be able to move freely across the Internet, is on the ropes as some corporations and their congressional allies seek to profit from restricting access.”
