Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says that with a House proposal on net neutrality failing to win bipartisan support, the legislation will not be going forward.
While the representative, who chairs the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee, says that legislation may still be introduced after the November elections, he also urges the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reassert its regulatory authority over the Internet service providers.
“If our efforts to find bipartisan consensus fail,” Waxman says, “the FCC should move forward under Title II” of the Communications Act, under which Congress confers authority to the FCC. “The bottom line is that we must protect the open Internet. If Congress can’t act, the FCC must,” Waxman says.
But the FCC’s power to regulate broadband access has been questioned. As the Washington Post notes, a federal court held in April that the agency exceeded its authority when it censured Comcast for placing Internet access limits on some of its customers.
More analysis on the issue at the Wrap.
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