WASHINGTON (June 20, 2014) â€� Robert McDowell, former FCC Commissioner (2006 â€� 2013) and current Visiting Fellow at »ªÌå»á, is testifying today before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary. The â€� “Net Neutrality: Is Antitrust Law More Effective than Regulation in Protecting Consumers and Innovationâ€� â€� comes as the FCC examines new “open Internetâ€� rules.
McDowell argues that the Internet should remain open with minimal government regulation, as it has been since it was privatized in the mid-1990s. In stating “the Internet is the greatest deregulatory success story of all time,� McDowell opposes rules proposed by the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a utility service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Attempts to do so, he states, “[ignore] the fact that a new body of regulations is not needed and may, in fact, cause harmful unintended consequences.� Supportive arguments, McDowell puts forth, include:
# Ample laws already exist to address any market failure and consumer harm;
# New rules will only spur international efforts to regulate the Internet; and
# Technology companies will become ensnared in “Title II� net neutrality.
McDowell concludes that “a better path would be to rely on time-tested antitrust and consumer protection laws, with their century-old precedent, that have helped make the American economy the strongest and most innovative in the world.�
To read McDowell’s full testimony, visit:
To view McDowell’s biography, visit: