On January 21, the new Congress quickly stepped into the net neutrality debate. The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet and the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held separate hearings, both of which focused on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) upcoming Open Internet Rules and new legislation recently introduced by Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Representative Fred Upton (R-MI).
The House hearing was held first and included witnesses from CTIA- the Wireless Association, Etsy, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, Amazon.com, National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. The Senate hearing, held in the afternoon, included many of the same witnesses; representatives from CTIA- the Wireless Association, Amazon.com, and the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. The Senate also had witnesses from Public Knowledge, the Hudson Institute, and Midcontinent Communications.
Both hearings reviewed the legislation introduced by Senator Thune and Representative Upton based on the Republican perspective that the bill would put into place a net neutrality compromise. Their proposal includes provisions prohibiting paid prioritization and blocking of content by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which would be roughly consistent in concept with the Open Internet Rules under consideration by the FCC. However, the Thune/Upton bill would also limit the FCC’s authority to regulate the Internet under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which goes far beyond what the FCC or network neutrality advocates might consider appropriate.
Along those lines, Democrats in both chambers of Congress indicated strong opposition during the hearings to the provision in the bill eliminating the FCC’s authority under Section 706. Democrats and their witnesses also warned that the definitions in the Republican bill were ambiguous and left the rules with too little scope and impact to protect consumers and the open internet.
Republicans advocated for the legislation actively during the hearings. They claimed that the proposed legislation would grant the FCC authority to regulate the internet and ISPs in a fashion that would reduce uncertainty in the marketplace. In their view, the bill would provide clear guidance to businesses and put protections in place for consumers while leaving less room for litigation. They argued for pushing through their legislation prior to the FCC’s February 26 vote on its Open Internet Rules. Democrats, on the other hand, were in favor of allowing the Commission to introduce and vote on its own proposal without congressional interference.
The FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler, is expected to introduce a proposal that reclassifies the Internet as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, which would clearly establish the FCC’s authority to implement network neutrality rules. However, it would also entail the FCC indicating which aspects of Title II’s utility-style regulations it would and wouldn’t apply to commercial Internet access services. The complete details of Wheeler’s proposal will be kept confidential until the full five-member Commission votes to either approve or disapprove of the measure at its February 26 meeting. However, Wheeler is expected to circulate his proposal to the other four commissioners on February 5, and it is anticipated that he may issue a statement addressing the basic outlines of the rules at that time.