Rep. Blackburn to FCC: Delay Net Neutrality Vote

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said in light of a Wall Street Journal report and the suggestion the FCC's new network neutrality order "may have been written behind closed doors at the White House," the FCC should delay its Feb. 26 vote on reclassifying Internet access as a common carrier service under Title II.

"Chairman Wheeler should delay the FCC Net Neutrality vote scheduled for Feb. 26," said Blackburn. "There is much at stake, as Title II regulations will lead to billions of dollars in new fees and taxes. The seriousness of these allegations require Chairman Wheeler’s attention beyond a mere statement or press release in order to assure the public that the FCC was not unduly influenced by the White House.”

FCC officials defending the order have pointed out that it goes beyond what the President had asked for—including interconnections between edge provider/CDNs and ISPs as well as customer-facing service—and that the chairman had been pivoting toward Title II before the President publicly called for it. They have called his change from his initial non-Title II-based proposal an evolution.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.