Doyle leads effort to preserve net neutrality
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep Mike Doyle is leading a Democratic effort to maintain net neutrality rules after the Federal Communication Commission’s decision to repeal the Open Internet Order.
Mr. Doyle of Forest Hills introduced a measure under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to reverse agency rules within 60 days of their publication in the Federal Register. The FCC published its rule Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, DMass., has sponsored companion legislation in the Senate, where it has the support of 50 members, including one Republican, Susan Collins of Maine. Fifty-one votes are needed for passage, which promises to be more difficult in the House, where Mr. Doyle’s bill has no Republican support.
The Open Internet Order prohibits internet service providers from blocking, speeding up or slowing web traffic based on content.
“The internet today isn’t just a commodity or a service that people take for granted,” Mr. Doyle said Tuesday at a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. “It’s their lifeline to friends, family, work, entertainment and education. It’s a creative tool, a platform for entrepreneurs, and a global marketplace for ideas and innovation. It has the potential to alter the economic future of everysingle American.”
FCC chairman Ajit Pai said the “heavy-handed” net neutrality rules imposed during the Obama administration have discouraged innovation and that it’s best to let the free market dictate the evolution of the internet.
“What we’ve decided is we need to restore the light-touch market-based framework that started in the 1990s,” Mr. Pai said in a video on the FCC’s website. “These are the rules that are the best guarantee to preserve a free and open internet and to generate the kinds of network investment that are critical to bringing Americans onto the right side of the digital divide.”
Democrats who spoke during the news conference disagreed, saying the FCC and Republicans want to hand over regulation to big corporations.
“Chairman Pai’s order says your internet service provider can pick what content you get to access and how quickly it loads,” said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
U.S. Rep Dan Kildee, DMich., spoke forcefully against the FCC’s decision.
“This is a situation where large multinational corporations with vast wealth will be able to have a disproportionate share of access to consumers who are equally discriminated against by not being able to pursue products and services and information to serve their needs,” he said. “The system is rigged against them. This cannot continue. It’s non- demo- cratic. We ought to fight it with every ounce of energy that we have.”