Republicans remain skeptical of whether a "net neutrality" law is needed, arguing that antitrust regulations already in place are sufficient.
The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a new set of rules for broadband providers, and House Republicans objected at a Friday hearing to the regulations on how broadband providers treat network traffic, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The proposed regulations would let broadband providers charge companies who differentiate between their customers by giving better access to some. Democrats say that startups and small companies can be unfairly disadvantaged if such deals can take place, while Republicans call the proposed rules an unnecessary overreach.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) said that "vigorous application of the antitrust laws can prevent dominant Internet service providers from discriminating against competitors' content or engaging in anticompetitive pricing practices," according to WSJ.
"In my experience, regulation generally stifles rather than facilitates competition and innovation. In fact, it is my belief that the Internet has flourished precisely because it is a deregulated market," Goodlatte said at Friday's hearing.
Lawmakers have been giving input on the new rules to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The FCC had to write the proposal after the agency's previous rules were struck down twice, the second time in January.
The term "net neutrality" was introduced by Columbia Law School Professor Tim Wu, who was alone in arguing in favor of the proposed new rules on Friday. His stance is that current antitrust laws do not have enough reach for the broad range of problems stemming from the Internet, including social policy and the free speech debate.
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