Taking Aim at Internet Rules

[Commentary] The Senate is expected to vote on a resolution that would stop the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing rules that prohibit Internet service providers from discriminating against the transmission of content that might compete with their own. The resolution would render void the modest rules adopted by the FCC in December 2010. Stripped of authority, the commission would have a very difficult time protecting the Internet from those who clamp down on content for ideological reasons or profit. Repealing the rules would free service providers like phone and cable companies to block or slow down their competitors’ content — be it movies, songs or messages — when it is flowing through their broadband pipes. The Republicans’ deregulatory push would give companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon full control over Internet traffic. The failure to protect open, competitive broadband would be enormously harmful to a major channel of communications.