FCC Makes Dangerous Move to Control the Internet

Obama’s man at the FCC, Julius Genachowski, recently announced an extremely dangerous trick which gives the  administration an unprecedented level of control over the Internet.

Broadband Internet has been classified by the FCC as an information service. This has resulted in limited government regulation and a corresponding explosion in innovation and available services. Genachowski has announced plans to reclassify broadband lines as telecommunication services so that his agency can subject them to political supervision.

This simple change of classification allows the Obama administration to circumvent last months ruling by a federal appeals court that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate the Internet.

The Supreme Court reconfirmed the classification of cable broadband as an information service as recently as 2005.  Mr. Genachowski’s ruling will almost certainly lead to yet another showdown between the Obama administration and the United States Supreme Court.

Bill Kennard, Chairman of the FCC under the Clinton Administration, refused to implement such drastic controls on free speech, saying “Classifying Internet access as telecommunication services could have significant consequences for the global development of the Internet. We recognized the unique qualities of the Internet, and do not presume that legacy regulatory frameworks are appropriately applied to it.”  It’s pretty sad when I find myself looking back to the “good old days” of the flakes from Arkansas running loose in the White House.