Rep. Curtis says it's time to take partisanship out of net neutrality debate

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) hosted an invite-only roundtable discussion, hoping to gather stakeholder input on how to best address efforts to maintain an appropriately open internet system. "We tried to get every position represented in the room," said Rep. Curtis. "We had (internet service providers), edge providers and both large and small tech businesses. I felt like we had a really productive dialogue about our mutually shared objective — an open and fair internet." Rep Curtis noted that see-sawing Federal Communications Commission internet rule modifications, which have been following the tides of political change in the nation's capital, lead to uncertainty in the industry. And that, he noted, results in negative outcomes for all involved, from internet and content providers down to everyday web users. "My personal feeling is the best answer is a congressional fix," Rep Curtis said. "One of the problems we're experiencing right now is administration changes lead to (internet) policy changes and we whiplash back and forth. One of the resounding messages from the roundtable group was the need for predictability." Rep Curtis said while he understands the impetus behind the push to address the most recent FCC changes using the Congressional Review Act, he sees it as perpetuating the partisan divisiveness on net neutrality issues and "precludes the FCC from fine-tuning changes in the future."