The Federal Communications Commission has gotten another earful from GOP lawmakers who oppose Chairman Julius Genachowski’s plan to initiate a rule-making procedure to strengthen the commission’s stance on Net neutrality.
In a letter dated Tuesday, 18 Senate Republicans prevailed on Genachowski to rethink his position on the issue.
“Broadband service providers have invested billions of dollars in building and upgrading their networks to better serve their customers,” they wrote. “However, burdensome regulations will have a chilling effect on further private sector investment, at a time when the U.S. economy can least afford such an impact.”
They also warned that Genachowski appeared to have already made up his mind about the issue when he announced his proposal in a speech at the Brookings Institution in September.
“Your promulgating network neutrality rules seems to emanate from a fear that there may be some problems related to openness in ‘the future,'” they wrote, arguing that he had provided scant evidence of actual instances of ISPs acting in way that harmed consumers. “Our view is that it is harmful for the commission to impose industry-wide rules based upon speculation about what may occur in the future.”
