In advance of Thursday's net neutrality vote at the FCC, a House committee today held a hearing on the subject, during which members sparred over the FCC's plan and what Congress should do about it.
As usual, the discussion was split down party lines, with Democrats generally supporting the FCC's approach and the Republicans in opposition.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants to take the controversial step of reclassifying broadband as a telecom service rather than an information service (for the full run-down of the agency's plan, check out this explainer). In response, Republican leaders in Congress have stepped in with a bill that would uphold the basic tenets of net neutrality, but strip the FCC of its authority to reclassify broadband.
Among the witnesses at today's hearing was Rick Boucher, a former Democratic member of Congress who now works with the Internet Innovation Alliance. He told the committee that its legislation "moves in the right direction," though he has a few concerns.
As for the FCC's approach, re-classification, also known as Title II, "is kind of a blunt instrument," Boucher said, which doesn't fit very well in today's tech environment. He was also concerned that any action taken at the FCC could easily be wiped out by the next administration, particularly if a Republican wins and puts in place a Republican-led FCC. As a result, "legislation is the superior solution," he said, because "it's virtually impenetrable to judicial challenge."
But getting Congress to agree on something is never easy. Meanwhile, President Obama has backed reclassification, so any bill that strips the FCC of that authority would likely get a veto.
Still, several hearing attendees remarked that it was noteworthy that Congress was tackling net neutrality at all. Last year, GOP leaders were pushing everyone to just back off net neutrality completely and let the market decide.
Until any real action takes place, though, it's the usual buzzwords and arguments on Capitol Hill. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), for example, said the FCC will be voting on "net nonsense" rather than net neutrality tomorrow. "It's not going to work," he said bluntly.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), meanwhile, accused GOP leaders of "obsessing" over this issue, when it could just let the FCC do its work and focus on more important tasks on the Hill.
The FCC will convene its monthly meeting at 9:30 a.m. ET tomorrow, where it will consider a plan regarding municipal broadband networks before turning to net neutrality. The meeting will be webcast on the FCC's website.
For more specifics on how the various groups view the FCC's plan, check out the slideshow above.