FCC Quietly Selling Net Neutrality on Capitol Hill
The selling of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's controversial "network neutrality" proposal has quietly begun on Capitol Hill, Tech Daily Dose has learned. On Friday, the agency will conduct bipartisan briefings for Senate and House staffers on the just-announced open Internet proposal, which would establish enforceable rules prohibiting anticompetitive behavior on the Internet.
The outreach comes as Republican lawmakers express outrage that Genachowski has scheduled a Dec. 21 vote on the proposal despite their insistence that new rules are unnecessary and that only Congress should set policy in this area. Genachowski is widely expected to face what's shaping up to be a major backlash in next year's GOP-controlled House.
At the invitation of the Senate Commerce Committee, FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick and top advisers from the chairman's office will brief bipartisan staffers Friday from noon to 1p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. On the House side, the commission will conduct a similar briefing at 2pm in room 2123 of the Rayburn building.
In an effort to soften the impact of the announcement, the commission held a Wednesday morning conference call with House aides from both parties one hour before Genachowski delivered a speech detailing his proposal. Among the talking points emphasized, according to an agency summary of the call obtained by Tech Daily Dose, was a theme that Genachowski highlighted during his speech: the proposed rules are rooted in initiatives spearheaded by two former GOP chairmen of the FCC: Michael Powell and Kevin Martin. That message, however, won't be enough to spare Genachowski from being hauled before the House Energy and Commerce Committee early next year to answer some blunt questions about his net neutrality proposal, a congressional source said.
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