FCC Chairman Refusing to Testify Prior to Net Neutrality Vote
Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, refused to testify before the House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday. The hearing is taking place only one day before the FCC's vote on new Federal government regulations on the Internet, dealing with 'open access' and 'Net Neutrality'.
So long as the chairman continues to insist on secrecy, we will continue calling for more transparency and accountability at the commission. Chairman Wheeler and the FCC are not above Congress.
The FCC’s vote is scheduled for Thursday, but the FCC's two Republican commissioners have asked Wheeler for a delay to allow for more time to review the new regulations. The proposed rules would allow the commission to regulate the Internet as a public utility, which would require providers to ensure equal access to all online content.
Critics claim that federalizing control of the internet as it it were an old fashioned utility will discourage private investment and innovation, and will end the Internet's usefulness as we know it.
Ajit Pai, a commissioner at the FCC told Reason.com that Net Neutrality is "a solution that won't work to a problem that doesn't exist."
Read more details in this National Review article, and on The Hill's blog post from today.
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