OTI Welcomes Congressional Support for Net Neutrality, But Urges FCC to Continue to Lead

Today, the Senate and House are holding hearings on a new legislative proposal that would prevent Internet service providers from blocking or throttling online traffic. While the bills put forward by Senator John Thune and Representative Fred Upton rightly recognize the need for new rules to protect the open Internet, they would also significantly restrict the Federal Communications Commission’s legal authority to protect consumers and small businesses on the Internet, which could have a far reaching implications for the future of the American broadband market.

The following statement can be attributed Alan Davidson, Vice President of New America and Director of the Open Technology Institute:

"Competition and openness are not partisan values -- they are American values. It is encouraging to see leaders on both sides of the aisle embracing a free and open Internet. President Obama reiterated the need for strong net neutrality last night in the State of the Union, and Congress is examining the issue today in hearings. However, nothing in the bill released by Chairmen Thune and Upton should deter the FCC from acting as soon as possible to protect American Internet users."

The following statement can be attributed Sarah Morris, Senior Policy Counsel at the Open Technology Institute:

“After over a decade of debate, it is critical that we get net neutrality rules right this time around. The current legislative text does not address the well-documented harms occurring at the entry point into the last mile and would limit the FCC’s ability to respond nimbly to consumer harms as they continue to evolve. By stripping the FCC of crucial authority over the Internet, the legislation would dramatically reduce the FCC’s ability to protect consumers and help promote broadband deployment. The best way forward for strong network neutrality protections has not changed: FCC can and should continue on its current path and swiftly enact strong open Internet protections by reclassifying broadband as a Title II telecommunications service.”

OTI experts are available to discuss today’s hearings and the net neutrality proceeding more broadly. For more on OTI’s analysis of the current legislative proposals, see Sarah Morris and Josh Stager’s OpEd in The Hill, “A Solution in Search of a Problem: Proposed Net Neutrality Bill Needlessly Straitjackets the FCC.”