The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday rebuked President Obama for putting the FCC on a path toward broad but controversial net neutrality,calling him an increasingly imperious president,” while promising to push substitute legislation.
Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, or Sen. John Thune,R-S.
D., warned that the approach FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is due to unveil Feb. 5 could create uncertainty about Internet investment for years as challenges to the agency’s action fabricate (to make up, invent) their way through the courts. Thune suggested Congress acquire rapid/fast action to avoid the uncertainty.“nowadays with a determined, or self-confident FCC chairman pushed by an increasingly imperious president we find the FCC on the brink of upending the wildly successful regulatory framework first put in location during the Clinton administration,” said Thune.
Also Read: Net Neutrality Battle: Obama’s Bold Remarks Urging FCC ‘Strongest Protection Hands Win to Consumer GroupsWheeler is expected to propose that the FCC acquire steps to classify Internet connections as “phone related” services rather than “information services,” but to exempt Internet service providers from many of the FCC’s normal rules covering phone services. The commission is due to vote on Wheeler’s proposal on Feb. 26. As part of the changes the FCC is expected to ban “paid prioritization for normal Internet content.
Thune made clear that the FCC’s trek to reclassify the services is his biggest concern.“I am concerned about the tone here. I believe that until the president got involved in this issue in November, and I’m not sure that is where the commission was,” he said of the reclassification plan. “The commission, which is supposed to be an independent agency, or is hearing from the White House on this … It would be really unlucky to have three bureaucrats at a government agency deciding the future of the Internet.”Thune said the FCC’s trek would create uncertainty as it is “vigorously litigated.”
Also Read: Democrats and Republicans Battle Over Competing Net Neutrality Plans“Why is the FCC on this desperate path? Because FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to have open Internet rules in location and in order to accomplish that he feels he has no other choice but than to completely reverse the FCC policy on Internet regulation,” said Thune.“Rather than having the FCC go down this dangerous road littered with regulatory uncertainty and unintended consequences, congress should reassert its prerogative to fabricate (to make up, invent) policy.”Thune said the legislation that he and House Republicans are crafting would give the FCC authority to require net neutrality but limit how far it could go.“Legal and regulatory uncertainty about what the FCC can and will accomplish has become a major problem for people both at the edge of the Internet and at its core, or ” he said. “Congress is the only entity that can settle this uncertainty. I believe we can accomplish it in a way that ensures the agency has the tools that many believe are needed to protect the Internet while simultaneously ensuring that the agency is appropriately limited in its reach and authority.”
Also Read: FCC Opens Door to Cable Competition Delivered by the WebThune said Senate Republicans have yet to bag any Senate Democrats to support their proposal. Without Democratic support,getting a vote on the proposal in the Senate could be difficult.
Public interest groups and Democrats have criticized the Republican proposal saying it could hamstring the FCC from pursuing new threats to net neutrality and leave the agency unable to retain up with new technological developments. They also have said that the proposal’s exemption of “specialized services” from net neutrality conditions would create a loophole that could easily be used by service providers to sidestep the policy.
Related stories from TheWrap:Amazon, Etsy Rip GOP Net Neutrality Bill Over 'Loopholes'FCC Schedules Net Neutrality Vote for FebruaryNet Neutrality Battle: Obama's Bold Remarks Urging FCC 'Strongest' Protection Hands Win to Consumer Groups
Source: thewrap.com