ISPs Will Sue Over Net Neutrality, Booker Predicts
Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Angus King, I-Maine, defended strong net neutrality protections and pushed for Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband. They spoke together over the weekend on WGAN’s Inside Maine program, with King interviewing Booker and posting…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
the 13 minutes of audio on his website. Booker and King wrote a joint op-ed earlier this month on the issue (see 1412080045). “It’s not just" you and me, Booker told King, citing the more than 4 million comments the FCC has received on net neutrality. “My office has received thousands of communications.” Booker warned of “a level of unfairness” that could “squelch” businesses. “I doubt if Instagram could get going if someone charged a big entry fee,” King said. He said he and Booker are not “big regulation guys” and said these protections would not amount to that. The FCC “can fix it by simply saying, by treating it as what’s called a common carrier and moving it under Title II,” Booker said, referring to a path under what he said was a recent Supreme Court decision on the issue. The Supreme Court hasn't ruled on net neutrality but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated some net neutrality rules earlier this year and did refer to a statutory path for net neutrality rules. Booker and King said the phone companies “hate” the idea of some net neutrality rules. Booker also said he has friends who work at the major ISPs, specifically alluding to Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen by citing one former political job Cohen held but without naming him explicitly. Cohen has helped with Democratic fundraising. “These are good people,” Booker said. “They come in, as lobbyists do, and they make their case to you.” But Booker disagrees with the reasoning, he said. Booker suspects these big companies will “sue again” over net neutrality. Many congressional Republicans and ISP industry stakeholders object to Title II reclassification.