U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for Environment, Technology, & Regulatory Affairs Bill Kovacs issued the following statement regarding the D.C. Circuit decision to uphold the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) net neutrality rules:
“By upholding the FCC’s net neutrality rules, three unelected commissioners are essentially transforming an entire industry—in this case the Internet—from an innovative, lightly regulated enterprise that made huge investments into this country, into a public utility subject to the whims of regulators.
“After the FCC deregulated the Internet in 2005, Internet connections at home grew from 33 percent to 70 percent and broadband firms invested on average $70 billion annually in capital expenditures. Consumers have been using wireless broadband in record numbers. The Internet thrived under deregulation and today’s Circuit Court decision jeopardizes America’s communications renaissance and our competitiveness in the world.
“The net neutrality decision today further proves that Congress must enact legislation such as the Regulatory Accountability Act that provides structural reforms to prevent agencies from imposing such sweeping and investment-killing regulations like the Open Internet Order without transparency and accountability.”
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