DeMint bill would gut ‘activist’ FCC, prevent ‘Internet takeover’

Commerce Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison, who sits on the Senate Appropriations panel, is rumored to be considering a similar maneuver, according to Senate aides.

The FCC moved closer to increasing its authority over broadband providers on Thursday in a controversial vote that the panel’s Democrats said would protect consumers and its Republicans contended would freeze investment in broadband networks. 


The commission voted 3-2 to open an inquiry into how the industry is regulated, the first step toward giving the agency the authority to police broadband service providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T.
 
Detractors have charged that the proceeding is a backdoor way to write net neutrality rules without a congressional mandate. Such rules would prevent broadband providers from favoring certain Internet traffic.