FreedomWorks

Today, Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced H.R. 3294, the Real Stimulus Act of 2009, which would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from enacting net neutrality regulations. The bill comes in the wake of a recent FCC decision to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking in favor of net neutrality. “The internet is the last truly open public marketplace. Its openness is the key to its efficiency and success,” said Blackburn in an accompanying press release. “Not all public spaces need to be regulated spaces. Indeed, federal regulation has a long history of making the market less efficient.”

Should the FCC impose new rules that expand government control over the internet, innovation will be stifled and investment in this important sector of our economy will decline. In order to keep the internet truly free, questions of network management need to be left up to those who built the networks and not bureaucrats at the FCC.  Already, the FCC has ample authority to address any concerns that may arise over internet access.  There have been few problems to date, and the FCC handled them on a case-by-case basis.  The call for a sweeping new set of regulations is not warranted.

“Growth in the broadband sector provides a great opportunity for economic recovery without government intervention,” said Dick Armey, Chairman of FreedomWorks. “H.R. 3294 is a step in the right direction toward getting the government out of the way.”

For more information please contact FreedomWorks Press Secretary Adam Brandon at 202-942-7698.