LETTER EXPRESSES OPPOSITION TO RECLASSIFYING BROADBAND SERVICES UNDER TITLE II OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ACT

Washington, May 28, 2010 - “The Internet continues to thrive without federal regulation and the decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reclassify broadband services under Title II of the Communications Act threatens the free-market forces that fostered the explosive growth of the Internet,” stated Rep. Cliff Stearns, Ranking Republican on the House Communications, Technology & the Internet Subcommittee.

Stearns and Rep. Joe Barton, Ranking Republican on the Energy & Commerce Committee, today sent a letter to FCC Chairman Genachowski expressing opposition to reclassifying broadband services with the signatures of 171 Republican House members.  The letter notes, “[T]he FCC concluded on a number of occasions, under both Democrat- and Republican-led Commissions, that broadband is not a telecommunications service but an information service outside the reach of the Title II common carrier rules.  The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that view in its 2005 Brand X decision.”

The letter also outlines that the legislative branch has jurisdiction over reclassifying broadband services, “Such a significant interpretive change of the Communications Act should be made to Congress.”  In addition, Stearns has introduced H.R. H.R. 5257, the Internet, Investment, Innovation, and Competition Preservation Act to protect the Internet from FCC regulation.

A pdf of the letter is attached