White House Warns GOP to Stop Sneak Attacks on Net Neutrality The White House has issued a warning to Congress to stop trying to covertly kill net neutrality, stating that any such efforts will be vetoed once they reach the President's desk. As we've been discussing, the GOP has relentlessly been trying to bury language in budget bills that either stop the agency from enforcing its net neutrality rules, or attempts to gut FCC funding and authority simultaneously. The GOP has been similarly trying to misleading derail the FCC's attempt to bring competition to the cable box.

For whatever it's worth, the White House has issued a statement of Administration policy (pdf), stating that the latest budget rider of this type "includes highly problematic ideological provisions," that that prevent the FCC "from promoting a free and open Internet and encouraging competition in the set-top box market, impacting millions of broadband and cable customers." While many had doubts about Tom Wheeler's past as a former cable and wireless sector lobbyist, he's arguably been the most consumer-friendly FCC boss in the agency's history. Wheeler's tenure so far has involved new net neutrality rules, new rules promoting cable box competition, a higher 25 Mbps definition of broadband, new broadband privacy rules, and an attack on state protectionist laws written by ISPs to scuttle community broadband. But while that's all good news for consumers, it has been trouble for large incumbent broadband providers used to a fifteen year stretch during which the FCC acted as little more than lap dog to the telecom sector. As such, carriers have aggressively ramped up lobbying efforts in an attempt to slow this more consumer and competition-focused FCC. And again, part of this effort has included trying to kill pro-consumer policies via amendments tacked on to budget bills. In its full statement, the White House makes it very clear that should the GOP keep using the appropriations process to erode the FCC's work, advisors will make it clear the President should veto the end result. "For almost a century, US law has recognized that companies who connect Americans to the world have special obligations not to exploit the monopoly they enjoy over access in and out of Americans' homes or businesses," states the notice. "It is common sense that the same philosophy should guide any service that is based on the transmission of information—whether a phone call, or a packet of data." "These carefully designed rules have already been implemented in large part with little to no impact on the telecommunications companies making important investments in the US economy, and would ensure that neither the cable company nor the phone company would be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what Americans can do or see online," the FCC continues. "The appropriations process should not be used to overturn the will of both an independent regulator and millions of Americans on this vital issue." With the FCC recently With the FCC recently defeating ISPs in court , the industry will likely try to appeal the ruling via either an en banc hearing or by petitioning the Supreme Court. Most telecom lawyers don't think either approach has much of a shot. A more likely route is convincing the next President to stock the FCC with more revolving door regulators who'll simply refuse to enforce the new net neutrality rules.







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Most recommended from 87 comments

nelsonj3

join:2012-06-22

Lakeland, FL 1 edit 24 recommendations nelsonj3 Member Lobbying I'm still trying to figure out why lobbying is still legal. Ordinary people don't have time to lobby their government officials about topics of interest to them, so lobbyists paid by big corporations are the only ones who are lobbying. Therefore, all the politicians hear is what the big corporations (and donors) want. The will of the people matters very little anymore.

maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 22 recommendations maartena Premium Member It's not about net neutrality... This isn't about actual net neutrality anymore. It is the Republicans having to be against it ONLY because the Democrats are for it. That is how Washington politics work these days.



It works the other way around too, but at this moment in time the Democrats are the policy makers as they are in the white house, and the Republicans are the policy fighters because they are NOT in the white house. SpectrumDude

join:2002-04-14

Kernersville, NC 1 edit 8 recommendations SpectrumDude Member Just neutrality I wish the White House had taken this tone with the republicans eight years ago not only would net neutrality but everything else. The GOP has done nothing but obstruct every attend that Obama has made to mix country better place. The Republicans only look out for their campaign donors and not the people who they're supposed to be representing. IluvMoney (banned)

join:2015-05-04

MiddleClass 4 recommendations IluvMoney (banned) Member Won't veto much needed budget bills The White House talks tough over vetoing bills containing FCC limits, but the reality is that the budget bills containing those amendments are often must pass bills that the White House can't veto without shutting down the government in the midst of a presidential election. Now the White House would shut down the government over certain issues, but net neutrality isn't one of them.