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Two Congress members request that the FCC regulate broadband

Two democratic Congress members recently told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that they need to rethink classifying broadband as a regulated service to protect network neutrality and keep the national broadband plan in effect, PCWorld reports.

California representative Henry Waxman and Senator Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia wrote a letter to the FCC requesting these actions and want the FCC to consider all viable options to make them happen. Last month, the U.S. Court ruled against the FCC in its case to regulate Comcast's broadband activity. The FCC felt Comcast's new services were slowing traffic and essentially hogging the service and wanted to institute their idea of net neutrality, where all websites receive equal attention. When the U.S. Court ruled against them, many experts thought the idea of net neutrality was dying. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski then said last week that he was leaning toward keeping the current rules in place instead of trying to install regulation rules.

Both Congress members believe that if Genachowski rescinds on his original intention, the FCC's new national broadband plan might not fully develop.

“We believe that it is essential for the Commission to have oversight over these aspects of broadband policy, because they are vitally important to consumers and our growing digital economy,” the two chairmen wrote, PCWorld relays. “For this reason, in the near term, we want the agency to use all of its existing authority to protect consumers and pursue the broad objectives of the National Broadband Plan.”

The FCC's national broadband plan hopes to bring affordable high-speed internet to 100 million homes with a computer in the U.S. by 2020.

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