FCC Language Causing Internet Regulation Stir -- 03/29/1999

FCC Language Causing Internet Regulation Stir

29 March, 1999

By Ben Anderson
CNS Staff Writer

(CNS) – House and Senate leaders have responded to an e-mail blitz and are now pushing the Federal Communications Commission to sign-on to legislation barring the federal government from tampering with the Internet. The bill would keep the agency from becoming the "Federal Computer Commission," according to a statement released by House Policy Committee Chairman Chris Cox (R-CA).

Causing the stir are reports of potential "per-minute access charges" for Internet usage comparable to those charged for long-distance telephone service. The proposed fee charges are not similar to possible Internet taxes. When cyber types caught word that such charges may in the works, Congress began receiving thousands of e-mail messages from disgruntled consumers.

The FCC recently asserted its authority over individual states' regulation of local exchange carriers (LEC). With the decision that Internet bound phone calls should be considered interstate traffic, as are long distance calls, concern is building that the FCC may put itself in a position to regulate Internet access. But while "per-minute access charges" could increase dial-up costs, an FCC source said the issue is being confused with an internet tax.

Outside of the efforts of military and academic scientists who built the Internet's infrastructure, the World Wide Web has grown exponentially in the past five years without the help or hindrance of the federal bureaucracy. Cox and a bi-cameral team of congressional leaders want to keep it that way.

In a March 18 letter fired off to FCC Chairman William Kennard, the group said it is "pleased to learn" of his commitment not to regulate the Internet. Kennard remarked in a March 11 speech to brokerage firm Legg Mason during which he said, "as long as I am chairman of the FCC, we will not regulate the Internet."

In fact, Kennard, appointed to the commission by President Bill Clinton, reiterated his point several times during his speech. But the congressional leaders' letter also alludes to comments from one of Kennard's four fellow commissioners, Harold Furchtgott-Roth.

The FCC has "put in jeopardy a longstanding rule that bars local phone companies from assessing usage-sensitive access charges on Internet service providers," Furchtgott-Roth said. He adds that Internet users "could be forced to pay per-minute fees for dial-up connections."

In the letter to Kennard, Cox and his cosigners asked for the FCC's support of anti-regulation legislation to keep the Internet free from government hands. "To end this uncertainty once and for all – and to stop the thousands of emails and phone calls from concerned Internet users – we are writing to ask you to work with us on legislation to clarify the 1934 Communications Act to make it clear that the FCC will not regulate the Internet or impose access charges on Internet service. Without such a clarification, there will always be a reason for Internet users to suspect that FCC regulation could be right around the corner."

Cox is joined in his letter by four House Members and a host of House and Senate leaders including Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), Senate Republican Conference Secretary Paul Coverdell (R-GA), House Republican Conference J.C. Watts (R-OK), House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-CA), House Internet Caucus Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA).

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