GOP Senators Aim to Sink FCC Broadband Plans

The Federal Communications Commission is in a sticky spot. The agency’s regulatory authority was dealt a major blow at the hands of a federal appeals court just as it set out to embark on an ambitious national broadband plan.

So the chairman’s response? Reclassify broadband service under a designation where the FCC’s legal authority is clear. Not so fast, cried the cable and telecom companies. Not on your life, shrieked their allies in Washington. Now, seven GOP senators have jumped into the fray, introducing legislation to block the FCC from pursuing net neutrality and other regulations they see as burdensome and unnecessary.

Alarmed at what they see as an over-zealous regulatory affront to private industry, a group of seven Republican senators has introduced a bill to block the Federal Communications Commission from enacting network neutrality rules that would amount to a significant check on the agency’s authority.

The bill, dubbed the “Freedom for Consumer Choice Act” — or “FCC Act,” in shorthand — would codify the rallying cry long proffered by net neutrality opponents, that rules governing how ISPs manage their networks are a solution in search of a problem.

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GOP Senators Look to Derail FCC’s Broadband Plans