Net neutrality will remain in the spotlight this week, both on and off Capitol Hill.
Monday is the deadline for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) final round of comments on its proposal to impose new rules on Internet service providers like Comcast and Cox.
Last week, the public response to the controversial rules surpassed the FCC’s previous record set by Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl. The number of comments is only likely to increase by the midnight deadline.
{mosads}Once the comment period closes, the FCC will review the comments and decide how to move forward. Chairman Tom Wheeler has previously said that he wants to finalize rules by the end of the year.
Later in the week, the issue will head to Capitol Hill, where the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday. Witnesses have yet to be announced, but the session could be a chance for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to air their concerns with Wheeler’s proposal.
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has previously called net neutrality the “Bill of Rights for the online world.” He introduced legislation to ban Internet providers from charging websites for faster service — which Wheeler’s plan would seem to allow as long as they were “commercially reasonable.” Critics though warn that Wheeler’s plan would open the floodgates to “fast lanes” and “slow lanes” online.
Other Democrats on the panel such as Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have urged the FCC to enact strong rules.
Republican members like Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), meanwhile, have objected to the FCC’s attempt to write any new rules, after a court struck down its previous regulations earlier this year.
In the House, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler will testify before the Small Business Committee on Wednesday afternoon. The session will focus on “the needs of small business and rural Americans,” but the hearing could also provide a prime forum for him to talk about other issues like net neutrality as well as a request for the FCC to overturn state laws limiting government-run broadband services.
FCC officials will testify on the agency’s budget and management before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the chairman of the Communications and Technology subcommittee, said the oversight sessions would ensure that the agency is working in “the best interests of the people it serves” and would help with the panel’s ongoing work to update the landmark law for communications services.
The House Oversight Committee will explore a cybersecurity firm linked to a cancer research lab’s data breach on Wednesday morning.
That same time, the House Judiciary subcommittee on Intellectual Property takes a look at copyright protection law.
International data sharing will be the subject of a Wednesday afternoon hearing in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Trade.
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the U.S. Copyright Office.
Off Capitol Hill, the Federal Trade Commission is holding a major workshop on “big data” — companies’ and organizations’ ability to collect and analyze massive amounts of information — all day on Monday. Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioner Julie Brill are both scheduled to give remarks.
The Brookings Institution is holding a panel discussion on Monday about “the future of civilian robotics” such as driverless cards and commercial drones.
Officials from the Commerce Department and computer companies are appearing at a Software and Information Industry Association event on “the Software Century” on Wednesday.
On Thursday, White House advisor Cecilia Muñoz and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) take the stage at an event on Hispanic millennials in technology.