FCC Power Grab of Internet Traffic: State Legislators Express Doubts Regarding Chairman's Statements
Posted on: Tuesday, 22 September 2009, 16:14 CDT
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation's largest individual membership association of state legislators, is expressing serious doubts about troubling new plans by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to control Internet traffic by imposing so-called "network neutrality" regulations. The Internet should be kept free from regulations that stifle investment in Internet infrastructure and limit freedom of speech.
"ALEC believes that a free and open Internet is best guaranteed by marketplace competition, not by government regulation," said Connecticut State Rep. William Hamzy, Co-Chairman of ALEC's Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force. "Consumers should have access to their choice of legal Internet content, but there is simply no evidence of any problem requiring such far-reaching governmental intrusion. Pretended future dangers are a poor excuse for any attempt by the FCC to make itself the Internet's traffic controller. Bureaucratic second-guessing of network management decisions by broadband providers will only serve to chill Internet innovation and investment."
ALEC's call for continuation of the federal government's "hands off" policy toward the Internet comes in response to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's announced plans to impose network management regulations on wireline and wireless broadband providers.
"Any 'network neutrality' regulations imposed on broadband service providers are likely beyond the statutory authority of the FCC, since Congress has not given the FCC authority to meticulously regulate traffic on information services like the Internet," said Seth Cooper, ALEC's Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force Director. "Such regulations are also likely unconstitutional under the First Amendment because they control and mandate speech travelling through a modern medium."
ALEC's official opposition to government-imposed "network neutrality" regulations is expressed in its Resolution on Network Neutrality. The Resolution affirms that the exponential growth of the Internet is a result of "the government's 'hands off' approach, ever increasing competition, as well as fierce consumer interest." The Resolution also recognizes that "companies that invest in broadband and broadband-related applications should be afforded the flexibility to explore fair and competitive business models and pricing plans for their products and services."
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the nation's largest nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators.
SOURCE American Legislative Exchange Council
Source: PR Newswire
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