Submission Summary: 0 pending, 9 declined, 1 accepted (10 total, 10.00% accepted)
House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., abandoned the effort late Wednesday in the face of Republican opposition to his proposed "network neutrality" rules. Those rules were intended to prevent broadband providers from becoming online gatekeepers by playing favorites with traffic.
There is some thought that the failure of this legislation will allow for an alternate plan legislating internet service providers as telecommunication services subject to common carrier status, which the current proposal did not do.
With Congress making no progress to resolve this issue, several public interest groups on Wednesday called on Genachowski to move ahead with his proposal to reclassify broadband as a telecom service.
However, this plan would likely meet with stiffer opposition from broadband providers and political opponents
But Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Commerce Committee, said Genachowski's proposal would "stifle investment and create regulatory overhang in one of the most dynamic sectors of our economy."
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