Blackburn Files Net Neutrality Bill With Republican, ISP Support Amid FCC Vote Opposition
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced the Open Internet Preservation Act in a bid for a permanent solution for net neutrality rules, as expected, getting ISP and Republican kudos and some tech concern. The FCC's vote last week to rescind 2015 net neutrality rules and related reclassification of broadband as a Communications Act Title II service (see 1712140039) means “we can do this” with a legal basis in Communications Act Title I, Blackburn said in a Twitter video. Earlier Tuesday, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., continued opposing the rules, as expected (see 1712130053).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The new bill would bar blocking and throttling. It mirrors parts of a 2015 discussion draft that House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., collaborated on with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and then-House Commerce Chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. Walden used the 2015 draft as a starting point for renewed discussions with stakeholders that began during the August recess (see 1506040046, 1707310066 and 1708070068).
Blackburn's bill wouldn't ban paid prioritization as Democrats want. The bill would prevent the FCC from ever again claiming Title II or Section 706 as a legal basis for expanding net neutrality rules. It also would pre-empt all state and local net neutrality laws. The legislation "kicks off this important conversation, and lays the groundwork for Congress to enact broadly bipartisan principles that will preserve the dynamic internet ecosystem," Walden said. "I hope our Democratic colleagues will rethink their public strategy to ‘litigate not legislate’ as we begin this serious legislative effort."
Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman quickly emerged as an opponent. He said the legislation “in its current form” doesn't “meet the criteria for basic net neutrality protections -- including bright-line rules and a ban on paid prioritization -- and will not provide consumers the protections they need to have guaranteed access to the entire internet.” Free Press said the bill is "fake net neutrality legislation."
Commissioner Mike O'Rielly also lauded Blackburn's bill, calling it a “thoughtful approach” that “includes necessary boundaries, and offers a realistic opportunity for compromise and finality on this much-debated issue.” The Telecommunications Industry Association “welcomes the introduction of legislation to affirm and strengthen the FCC’s recent net neutrality decision,” said Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Cinnamon Rogers. “The bill would provide critical regulatory certainty.” TechFreedom President Berin Szoka called on Capitol Hill Democrats to “stop playing politics and start engaging on substance,” saying “it’s now been almost seven years since Democrats proposed any legislative language of their own” on net neutrality.
Democrats Concerned
The public needs to make its voice heard in favor of net neutrality, despite last week’s vote largely scrapping the 2015 rules, said Clyburn and Cantwell during a #SaveNetNeutrality Twitter town hall. The FCC didn't comment.
“We need everybody to make sure their voices are heard loud and clear,” Cantwell said. “We’re going to have to raise a lot of ruckus because the FCC thinks they can just pass this and implement it without the voice of the people being listened to." The vote “is not the final word,” Clyburn said. “You still have the opportunity to be heard [in] town halls, in the halls of Congress,” she said. “The answer, the final word, comes from you.” People “are more vulnerable than they think” to net neutrality abuses, she said.
Clyburn said the order will keep states from imposing net neutrality rules. “The FCC did it without notice to any of the states,” she said. “I question the legality of that” and the lack of process. For the FCC to approve rules that prevent state action, “the least you could do is let them know so they can weigh in,” Clyburn said. State officials and lawmakers already will test pre-emption (see 1712150042). Cantwell said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) “will use every tool possible” to hold ISPs “accountable” for possible anticompetitive moves.
Clyburn and Cantwell said the regulator needs to get to the bottom of reports of fake comments to the agency. “What is as problematic to me is that the [FCC] leadership said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re not listening to those comments so they don’t matter,’” Clyburn said. “Embedded in that statement is they weren’t listening to any comments.” Congress needs to investigate whether the commission considered fake comments, Cantwell said. “These are very important matters and the FCC should listen to the public, but it shouldn’t be a fake public.”
ISPs will be on their best behavior for a while, Clyburn predicted. "That's my fear," she said. "While we're watching, everything is going to be rosy," she said. "But just in a few weeks, a few months or a few years … those companies will go back to their own natural posturing, benefiting their own interests and the rest of us will be on the losing side.”