FreedomWorks Calls on House Judiciary Task Force to Resist Regulating the Internet

Earlier today the House Judiciary Task Force on Competition Policy and Antitrust Laws held a hearing on the future of the internet and possible Net Neutrality regulations.

Net neutrality legislation would grant the federal government broad power to dictate how businesses offer Internet service. FreedomWorks finds this violation of fundamental property rights alarming. Additionally, FreedomWorks has grave concerns that, if enacted, net neutrality provisions would significantly deter investment in exciting new technologies that offer a faster, higher-quality Internet experience, thus ultimately hurting the consumer.

Although the internet, up to this point, has evolved largely in a market-based setting, the new mandates pose a potential threat to all businesses using the internet, particularly with respect to broadband deployment and upgrading the internet to handle new data-intensive applications. As new technologies emerge and broadband expands to an even greater population, the internet is showing its age. Streaming video is replacing the static web page, and real quality of service issues are developing. Net neutrality mandates effectively freeze the internet’s development at a stage that may be inappropriate for future use patterns.

FreedomWorks chairman Matt Kibbe commented,

“Advocates of big government promote the idea that active regulatory interference is necessary to ‘save’ the Internet. The free-market movement believes the Internet is the modern frontier of innovation and economic development, and should remain free from regulation. Net neutrality is not something true small government supporters can endorse.”