Republican leaders on Capitol Hill have called on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to publicly release a proposal to give the airwaves regulator sweeping new authority over the Internet.
In response to calls for so-called “net neutrality,” Wheeler in recent months has proposed new rules regulating broadband access, though he hasn’t released the details of his final proposal. The outcome could affect the prices consumers pay for access to entertainment, news and other online content.
Wheeler, a former cable and wireless industry lobbyist, is expected to circulate details of his proposal to the five-member FCC board by Feb. 5. But the Republicans say they’re worried he will keep them — and the public — in the dark until after the commission is scheduled to vote on the broad expansion of the FCC’s power Feb. 26.
In a letter to Wheeler, three GOP leaders of the House and Senate commerce committees say that given the high stakes, “transparency in this matter is particularly vital.”
“Currently, the general public, as well as Congress, is entirely reliant on press reports and generic, high-level statements regarding the status” of the proposed rules, wrote House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. “Releasing the text allows the public to, at the very least, have an informed opinion and — ideally — the opportunity to provide feedback.
“Limited access to information is beneficial to no one.”
President Obama has asked the FCC to put Internet service providers under the same rules as those imposed on telephone companies 80 years ago. The aim is to enforce net neutrality, the concept that all online traffic should be treated equally and given the same access to networks.
Advocates of regulating the Internet contend that service providers, left unchecked, will someday create a two-tier system that funnels Internet traffic into fast and slow lanes. In that scenario, they say only the richest content providers would be able to afford to pay the extra fees needed to ensure their online content is accessible through the fast lanes.
But Internet service providers say putting the Internet under the FCC’s control would prevent them from recouping costs for connecting to content providers that use large quantities of broadband, such as Netflix.
In January of last year, a federal appeals court threw out FCC rules requiring Internet service providers to treat all customers the same. The decision was based on the classification of the Internet as an information service. The court ruling prompted the FCC to try again with enforcement, this time by reclassifying the Internet as a utility.
The three Republicans have proposed their own net neutrality proposal.
“What we are offering is a solution that will bring to an end the loop of litigation and legal gymnastics that has flowed from FCC attempts to shoehorn the policy it wants to fit the authority that it has,” said Walden of his measure. “This draft legislative proposal represents our good faith effort to end the net neutrality debate before it goes to court again.”
