This morning's net neutrality hearing took ten seconds to turn adversarial. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) opened the House Judiciary Committee meeting with a series of broadsides against the Federal Communications Commission and its chair, Julius Genachowski, seated below him at the witness table.

The FCC's December order instituting basic net neutrality rules on wireline networks "circumvents Congress' lawmaking authority," said Goodlatte. It's "the role of Congress to make the laws The open Internet order exceeds the FCC's power—Congress has never given the FCC the authority to impose this top-down" approach to Internet services.

The FCC's legal argument authorizing the rules amounted to a "Rube Goldberg theory of regulation," said Goodlatte, in which a long chain of events might eventually produce a legal policy decision. "You don't grow an industry by regulating it."

He closed by demanding "a public explanation for the Commission's overreach."

What's wrong with satellite?



Genachowski smiled placidly as he was raked over the coals; even his contention that many Americans live under a broadband duopoly was treated as a ludicrous argument.

"I know a monopoly when I see one, and there is no place in American that I know of where 90 percent of people in any state or region live under a monopoly or duopoly," said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). "If you have satellite or cellular, you already have two" choices before DSL or cable even enter the equation.

Issa, adopting the manner of man who has caught a dim-witted opponent between the steely pincers of his own logic, glowered at Genachowski during his questioning. "Should we make gasoline and diesel the same price?" he thundered.

Genachowski looked baffled. He shrugged, attempted to make a comment about how he was no expert in the economics of petroleum products, but was cut off. Issa didn't want to hear "flowery" language. He repeated the question. "Should we make gasoline and diesel the same price, yes or no?"

Genachowski had to struggle through several minutes of these "yes or no!" questions, including, "Should we regulate everything so it's good for the consumer?" before a time limit brought Issa's questions to a close.

Some Democrats pushed back. "Let's not start this conversation off this morning with 'Everything is OK'," said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), in talking about broadband. And Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) expressed puzzlement at the intensity of Congressional anger at the topic.

"The fighting is inexplicably here in the committee when the commercial world has moved on," she said, noting the many tech companies in her Silicon Valley district who have welcomed the new rules.

On the other hand, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) had only a single question for Genachowski: net neutrality wouldn't prevent ISPs from blocking copyright content shared online, would it? With that concern addressed, Berman had nothing else to ask.

Common ground

The hearing did offer a bit of encouragement to Internet users; despite their bitter disagreements over process and policy, both Republicans and Democrats could agree on the biggest of big-picture goals: the Internet should be "open."

Even Issa softened a bit when he finally admitted, "There were a few isolated instances [of ISP behavior] that needed to be looked at." He was even open to "some sort of guidance as to fairness and equality," so long as that guidance didn't resemble a "rule."

For the Republicans, the preference was to rescind the FCC order and protect openness, however defined, through existing antitrust law.

Genachowski wasn't convinced, of course, arguing that no small startup has the time or capital to fight some of the largest communications companies on the planet for years in court to secure an antitrust remedy. But FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, seated at Genachowski's side, was happy to have the net neutrality order overturned.

Competition is what was needed, not regulation, he said, noting his own support for opening TV "white spaces" to broadband and for liberating apartment dwellings from onerous building-wide contracts to a specific provider.

Listing image by Flickr user pboyd04