WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., today asked the Federal Communications Commission chairman to explain how the agency has discovered legal authority to regulate the Internet in the Communications Act of 1934.

The text of the letter is below:

The Honorable Julius Genachowski
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554

Dear Chairman Genachowski:

We understand that you intend to follow our recommendation and abandon proposals to reclassify broadband as an old-fashioned telephone service under Title II of the Communications Act. We congratulate you on that wise decision. As we have stated previously, treating the Internet as if it were common carriage is a mistake.

We also understand, however, that you still are considering adopting network-neutrality rules by invoking ancillary authority under Title I of the Act. There are questions as to the FCC’s statutory authority to adopt these rules under Title I. The D.C. Circuit ruled in its April 2010 Comcast decision that the FCC had failed to demonstrate authority under Title I to regulate Internet network management.

We therefore write to request your analysis of the FCC’s authority under Title I to issue the proposed rule. In the absence of clear authority, the FCC should defer to Congress in this matter.

Please provide a written response to this letter by December 10, 2010. If you have any questions, please contact our Committee staff at (202) 225-3641.

Sincerely,

Joe Barton   
Ranking Member   

Cliff Stearns
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet

A copy of the letter can be found here.