'Net Neutrality' Remain Fighting Words at House Legislative Hearing

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing on the Save the Internet Act, which Democrats introduced recently in the House and Senate. But, the partisan bickering showed the net neutraltiy fight will continue regardless of the talk from both sides about the bipartisan agreement that Congress needs to step in to clarify government internet oversight. Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) warned Republicans at the outset that the new bill was what they were dealing with at the hearing, and that they could take up other topics at another time. Chairman Doyle said that the bill's absolute prohibition on rate regulation, unbundling, and other sections of common carrier regulations the FCC had forborne in the 2015 Open Internet Order removes the majority of the Title II overhang that the bill's opponents have complained about in the past, so he suggested there should be less opposition on the other side. That was not the case. Ranking Member Bob Latta (R-OH) said he wasn't sure why they were holding the hearing so soon after a previous net neutrality hearing. He said that the hearing and its Title II-based bill will likely mean that folks will start digging in their heals and nothing will get done given that even some Democrats don't support Title II. Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) said that while it was time for bipartisan legislation that could actually become law, but that the Save the Internet Act was not it. He said it will not become law. He said they could permanently ban blocking, throttling and paid prioritization without Title II.