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Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., introduced a bill to prevent the FCC from regulating...

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., introduced a bill to prevent the FCC from regulating information and Internet-access services without first proving a market crisis. The text of the bill (HR-5257) surfaced earlier this week (CD May 11 p11) OR (CD May…

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11 p7). “I see no reason for Internet regulation,” which could discourage investment, Stearns said Tuesday. “Yet, if there is ever a cause for regulation, it is a decision to be made by Congress -- not the FCC.” Stearns called broadband “an information service outside the reach of Title II” and said, “This point was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Brand X decision in 2005.” ISPs welcomed the bill. “This legislation recognizes that unprecedented government regulation of the Internet must be a measure of last resort and that our nation’s broadband future depends on continuing policies that promote private investment,” said NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow. USTelecom believes the measure lays out a “thoughtful, fact-driven approach in requiring the FCC to evaluate, before issuing new regulations, whether there is a failure in the broadband Internet services industry that harms consumers,” said President Walter McCormick. “The bill rightly calls on Congress to provide the Commission with specific guidance on how to oversee the Internet before taking action that could harm investment and jobs in an industry that is thriving.” AT&T believes that “new legislation is needed and this is an encouraging first step,” said Tim McKone, the executive vice president of federal relations. “As the FCC proceeds down the path of regulating the Internet by applying 75-year-old laws developed for the black rotary telephone we are hopeful that the Congress will take a more prudent path."