Waxman: Goals of FCC's Net Neutrality Draft Are 'Right'

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler got a vote of confidence from ranking House Energy & Commerce Committee member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

Waxman said Thursday that he had spoken to Wheeler and was assured that Wheeler "is committed to ensuring an open internet and banning any arrangements that hinder innovation and competition or impinge on consumer choice."

FCC officials were making that case Thursday as well after early reports focused on the possibility that the new rules would allow paid priority. The rules would not ban differentiation in service for a fee, but would apply a multi-prong test that would give the FCC the power to disallow paid priority if it concluded it hurt consumers or competition.

The goal of the new rules is to recreate the old ones in a way that the court will accept.

"These are the right goals, and I want to work with him to make sure they are achieved in the final rule," said Waxman.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.