House Panel Attacks Net Neutrality and Competition in Latest Appropriations Vote

The House Appropriations Committee voted today to approve a funding bill that would harm net neutrality and block the Federal Communications Commission’s efforts to promote competition in the market for set-top navigation devices. In party-line votes, the panel rejected two amendments by Reps. Jose Serrano and Nita Lowey to strip these anti-consumer provisions from the underlying bill.

The following quote can be attributed to Joshua Stager, policy counsel for New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“For the second time in a year, House Republicans voted to hijack the budget process to advance their crusade against net neutrality, the FCC, and consumer protections. We strongly oppose this legislation in its current form. The bill approved today would gut the net neutrality rules that millions of Americans asked for and stop a long-overdue effort to break up the set-top box monopoly that needlessly drives up American cable bills. We thank Congressman Serrano and Congresswoman Lowey for their efforts to amend this flawed bill.”