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FCC Chairman Genachowski Expected to Leave Broadband Services Deregulated
Sources say that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski thinks "reclassifying" broadband to allow for more regulation would be overly burdensome on carriers and would deter investment.
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U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski wants to keep broadband services deregulated, despite a federal court decision indicating that the agency has difficulty monitoring broadband providers.
The FCC currently has ancillary authority over Internet service providers, but the U.S. Court of District Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the agency overstepped its bounds in 2008 when it applied sanctions against Comcast. The ruling questioned whether the FCC can create a net neutrality rule. Genachowski is expected to respond to the ruling soon, but he has indicated that he wants to keep the current regulatory system.
Genachowski believes that reclassifying broadband to allow for more regulation would burden carriers and hurt investment. But Genachowski also thinks the current framework could lead to legal challenges to the FCC's authority. "The telephone and cable companies will object to any path the chairman takes," says Public Knowledge's Art Brodsky. "He might as well take the one that best protects consumers and is most legally sound."
From The Washington Post
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