Issue Position: Internet Freedom

Issue Position

The internet should be an open forum for ideas, businesses, and communication. The open structure of the internet empowers users and allows them to share information freely. I believe that Internet service providers (ISPs) should not be allowed to control or restrict access to the internet or the flow of information and that ISPs should not favor certain content over another. Internet Freedom rules will prohibit these corporations from exploiting their control of the networks to benefit their other revenue streams.

Internet Freedom legislation will keep the internet free and open, as it is now, and prevent service providers from additional attempts to discriminate based on the origin, destination and types of data.

News

In early April, a Federal Appeals Court in Washington, DC ruled that the Federal Communications Commission currently lacks the authority to promulgate regulations affecting Internet services. I believe it is crucial to protect consumers and foster innovation on the Internet. I am committed to working with the FCC and my colleagues in Congress to pass legislation that would give the power of choice to consumers by enabling the FCC to regulate broadband providers to keep the gateways of information flowing freely.

On June 16, 2010, I sent a letter co-signed by 32 of my colleagues to the FCC urging them to move forward on their proposal to reclassify broadband and ensure broadband privacy, disability access, and internet freedom for all consumers.

I also recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times to address this topic, which you can read here.

Legislative Update

I am an original cosponsor of H.R. 3458, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009. This legislation would require the FCC and other agencies to guard against unreasonable discriminatory favoritism for, or degradation of, content by the operators of the networks that make up the Internet based upon that content's source, ownership, or destination.

I was also happy to support an Amendment to the broadband deployment portion of H.R. 1, the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act in the Committee on Energy and Commerce that will require the service providers who receive federal grants to maintain a policy of "network neutrality," or internet freedom, on the new infrastructure.

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