FCC Chairman Defends Net Neutrality Rules

NetworkWorld: On Thursday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives spoke out against the FCC's net neutrality rules. "The FCC acts unconstitutionally when it exceeds its limited power," said Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Virg.). "Congress has never given the FCC the authority to impose this sort of top-down regulation of Internet services." Instead, Goodlatte and his colleagues say the government should use anti-trust laws to prosecute any providers taking an anti-competitive approach to business.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski defended the net neutrality rules and pointed out that anti-trust cases are notoriously difficult. "Antitrust enforcement is expensive to pursue, takes a long time and kicks in only after damage is done," he said. "Especially for startups in a fast-moving area like the Internet, that's not a practical solution."