The Senate will not take up a measure poised to pass the House this week that would reinstate Obama-era “net neutrality” regulations.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who sets the Senate floor agenda, called the measure “dead on arrival.”
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The House will vote Wednesday on the Save the Internet Act, which would reinstate the Feb. 26, 2015 vote by the FCC that reclassified the internet as a public utility.
Under the change, internet service providers were required to serve all internet traffic equally.
Democrats believe that approach is needed to prevent internet companies from unequal and unfair service to consumers and new companies. Most Republicans oppose the measure because they believe it will stifle innovation that has been critical to the industry.
Republicans in both chambers have introduced alternatives that would ensure equal treatment of internet users by prohibiting throttling and other access changes such as paid prioritization.
But Democrats oppose the proposals because they would also encode into law that the internet remain largely outside the oversight of the FCC by preventing them from being categorized as a utility.