House Panel Advances Anti-Transparency Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Energy and Commerce Committee today approved a bill that would exempt certain broadband providers from complying with the Open Internet Order’s transparency rules. The FCC voted to exempt smaller broadband providers from the rules last year, and extended that exemption through 2016. The House bill, which passed via voice vote, was amended today to apply only to providers with fewer than 250,000 subscribers and would sunset after 5 years. The original bill created a permanent exemption.

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

“Today’s amendment modestly improves the original bill, but this legislation remains a solution in search of a problem. The FCC already granted an exemption from its transparency rules for small providers. The bill’s sponsors have not demonstrated why Congress needs to step in now, or why being transparent with customers is burdensome for ISPs. Every consumer deserves basic Open Internet protections regardless of whether their ISP is big or small.”