The House Communications Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 25 on what even the subcommittee is calling "the President's net neutrality proposal." That is only a day before the FCC's vote on a new open Internet order.
No word on witnesses.
FCC chairman Tom wheeler circulated his net neutrality proposal to the other commissioners Feb. 5. The President last fall urged him to reclassify Internet access under Title II, which is the direction the chairman has gone — though he was loosening the turf for that pivot away from sec. 706 authority before the President's announcement.
"The closer we get to the FCC rubber stamping President Obama's Internet grab, the more disturbing it becomes. Consumers, innovators, and job creators all stand to lose from this misguided approach," said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.). "What’s more, this plan sends the wrong signal around the globe that freedom and openness on the Internet are best determined by governments – a far cry from decades of bipartisan commitment to light-touch regulation."
