House to re-write foundational communications law

The leaders of the House Commerce Committee announced that they will begin re-writing the Communications Act, a foundational law that regulates the television, telephone and Internet industries.

Updating the act will be a multi-year effort, and each potential change will likely prompt intense lobbying from powerful industry groups. The Communications Act, which outlines the power of the Federal Communications Commission, dates back to 1934, and was last updated in 1996. House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said the communications and technology sectors were "stalwarts of our national economy" throughout the economic downturn. "We must ensure that our laws make sense for today but are also ready for the innovations of tomorrow,” he said. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the chairman of the subcommittee on Communications and Technology, said that when the Communications Act was last updated 18 years ago, "no one could have dreamed" of the coming advances in the Internet. The committee will begin its review with a series of hearings and white papers in 2014.