Updating the Communications Act

On May 24, Sen John Rockefeller (D-WV), the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, Sen John Kerry (D-MA) -- the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet -- and Rep Rick Boucher (D-VA) -- the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet -- announced they will start a process to develop proposals to update the Communications Act. As the first step, they will invite stakeholders to participate in a series of bipartisan, issue-focused meetings beginning in June. A list of topics for discussion and details about this process will be forthcoming.

The last big update, in 1996, was short on broadband issues, a point its drafters have lamented. The move would also come as a growing number of congressional Democrats and Republicans are pushing the FCC to rethink its reclassification of broadband under the act's Title II common carrier provisions and wait for Congress to give some new direction on broadband regulation.

A drive to rewrite the law in 2006 died in the Senate after Democrats objected that it lacked rules on network neutrality, which would bar Internet service providers from interfering with subscribers' Web traffic.

A spokesperson for Sen Kerry said: "Senator Kerry believes that this process is complimentary to the efforts at the FCC, not a substitute for them. The deliberative process, both here and at the agency, will help inform and enhance our respective responsibilities to write and execute law and regulation that encourages innovation, inclusion, and consumer protections."

Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said, "We are very pleased to see this expression of Congressional interest in updating the Communications Act. The world has changed considerably since 1996, and Congress should be looking at how the law should accommodate today's technology and marketplace. We look forward to participating in this process. At the same time, because this appears to be the start of a long process, we believe, as do Chairmen Rockefeller and Waxman, that the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to carry out its plan to set some rules of the road for the Internet, protecting consumers and encouraging innovation and economic activity online."

Free Press Research Director Derek Turner said, "We appreciate congressional interest in updating the Communications Act, and welcome Congress' oversight in ensuring that our communications laws benefit consumers. We believe the current structure of the Communications Act, as revised over the years, provides a flexible framework for reaching the goals of competition, innovation and openness during a time of rapid technological change. The FCC's recent move to fix the classification mistakes of the Powell and Martin Commissions simply restores the legal structure established by Congress for our country's communications networks."