With legislators including House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), former
Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.), exiting Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and others signaling
the FCC it should proceed with Title II reclassification, the other side of the argument came out in force Friday.
Markey, for example, put it in no uncertain terms. After the failure of Waxman's net neutrality bill to gain
Republican support, despite general industry support for the legislative fix, Markey said Thursday (Sept. 30) in a
statement that "it is now time for FCC to reclassify broadband Internet access under Title II."
"[T]he FCC should defer to Congress and not take the dangerous and counterproductive step" of Title II countered
the Minority Media & Telecommunications Counsel, which has represented minority groups with concerns about the
effects of network neutrality rules on investment and innovation. "[W]e urge members of Congress to continue their efforts to craft targeted legislation, " said MMTC Executive Director David Honig in a statement.
The Alliance for Digital Equality (ADE), whose eclectic membership includes AT&T, Cisco, BET and the Communications
Workers of America, seconded that emotion.
In a statement, alliance chairman Julius Hollis said: "By calling for reclassification, fringe groups are simply
out of touch with what our communities really need, and that's jobs and investment. We cannot allow them to hijack
this debate, nor can we allow overregulation by the FCC to impede this goal."
Groups like
MMTC, ADE and others are worried that statements from Markey and others
will provide the political cover for reclassification, though a majority
of House members have registered their concern
about reclassification.
