

FILE - This May 16, 2012 file photo shows Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. gesturing during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Over objections from law enforcement officials, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation that would require police to obtain a search warrant from a judge before they can review a person's emails or other electronic communications. Leahy, the committee chairman and the bill's sponsor, said digital files on a computer should have the same safeguards as paper files stored in a home. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

In July, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Patrick Leahy held a hearing in his home state of Vermont to talk about net neutrality. At the time, about 200 people showed up.

Now Leahy wants to hold another hearing on the subject, this time back in Washington.

"Open Internet rules are the Bill of Rights for the online world," said Leahy in a statement announcing the hearing. "It is crucial that rules are put in place to protect consumers, online innovators and free speech."

The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17, two days after the FCC's next deadline for public comments on net neutrality. With the Federal Communications Commission planning to draw up new net neutrality rules by year's end after a federal court struck down the government's existing regulations earlier this year, time is running out for public discussion. (The FCC itself has planned a series of workshops this fall on net neutrality.)