The Democrats are planning to introduce legislation to restore the former net neutrality rules in the US, after taking control of the House of Representatives at the start of this year. A hearing on the legislation to "Safeguard the Free and Open Internet" has already been called for 12 March by the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee.
The 'Save the Internet Act' is sponsored by the committee's chairman Mike Doyle and Senator Ed Markey, who introduced similar legislation last year. The main aim of the legislation is to restore the FCC's previous 'Open Internet' regulation passed in 2015 under the Obama administration, which set stricter rules for how ISPs could manage traffic. These were largely abandoned by the new FCC chairman Ajit Pai in 2017, and from June 2018, internet services mainly fall under the general consumer protection oversight of the Federal Trade Commission.
The US Senate already passed in May 2018 legislation based on Doyle's previous bill. This was passed by the Democrats with the support of three Republicans. Since the mid-term elections in November 2018, the Republicans have slightly increased their majority in the Senate to 53 of the 100 seats. Any new legislation will need to pass both the House and Senate and secure clearance from the US President in order to take effect.
As in the past, the law immediately drew supporters and opponents. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, which represents many big internet companies, welcomed the legislation and called on Congress to pass the law in the interests of consumers and small businesses. The CCIA has been supporting a case brought by 22 state attorney-generals against the FCC that claims the regulator did not have the right to give up its protection of consumer internet in the latest reform.
USTelecom, the lobby group that represents traditional telecom operators, was opposed to the proposed law, saying it would only create uncertainty. The group has supported Pai's reforms from the start. It's concerned about states starting to act on their own on net neutrality, creating a patchwork of different rules across the country, and called for Congress to provide a legislative solution that brings an end to the "rinse and repeat" cycle.
Tina Pelkey, spokeswoman for the FCC chairman, said in a statement that Pai's "bipartisan, light-touch approach to internet regulation has been a success", as it promoted transparency and consumer choice and led to increase investment. "And it has proven wrong the many hysterical predictions of doom from 2017, most notably the fantasy that market-based regulation would bring about ‘the end of the internet as we know it.’ The internet in America today is free and vibrant, and the main thing it needs to be saved from is heavy-handed regulation from the 1930s."
