Washington, D.C. – As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks new ways to regulate the Internet, U.S. senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are teaming up with their colleagues to urge the FCC to keep the Internet growing, unregulated and accessible to all Americans.
“The Internet is a free market success story and it has become what it is today without any government regulation. Now is not the time to start meddling in something that isn’t broken. The Internet should remain neutral,” said Enzi.
“The Internet has grown and flourished since its creation. Instead of embracing the success of the internet, Washington is once again trying to ‘fix’ something that isn’t broken. The FCC’s effort to take full, regulatory control of the Internet is misguided and reckless. I will fight any Washington scheme that exerts more power over American consumers and businesses,” said Barrasso.
The FCC recently proposed what it refers to as a “third way” to regulate the Internet by changing the classification for the Internet and high-speed broadband to a “telecommunications” service so it will fall under the purview of FCC regulations.
In a May 24 letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski, Senator Brownback, R-Kan., Enzi, Barrasso and 34 other senators reiterated their support to keep the Internet unregulated and cited the FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., Supreme Court case to back up that stance. In its ruling the Supreme Court stated that the FCC has explicit legal authority to regulate only “telecommunications” services, and the Internet is an “information” service. If the Internet is regulated by the FCC it will hamper investment as well as network construction that is currently underway by private telecommunication providers, according to the senators.
Click the image below to view the letter.
