The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a ruling in February that consumers need not be forced to use the cable box rented out by your cable provider. This was great news for consumers and sad news for cable giants who haven’t had to create a competitive business plan for decades. The sounds of happy consumers is anathema to Republicans and their cable company overlords. Earlier this month, 60 Republicans wrote a very stern admonishment to the FCC. Coincidentally, the letter said all of the same things that the cable companies have been saying—creating competition will somehow hurt consumers and so no regulations, yada yada yada. The FCC just won’t do the cable companies’ Republicans’ bidding! How about we get rid of the big government FCC?
The proposal is the latest of many attempts to gut the FCC's authority, though it's unusual in that it takes aim at two of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's signature projects while also cutting the agency's budget. The plan is part of the government's annual appropriations bill.
"The bill contains $315 million for the FCC—a cut of $69 million below the fiscal year 2016 enacted level and $43 million below the [agency's] request," said an announcement by the House Appropriations Committee chaired by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who received $25,500 from the telecom industry in the current campaign cycle. "The legislation prohibits the FCC from implementing the net neutrality order until certain court cases are resolved, requires newly proposed regulations to be made publicly available for 21 days before the Commission votes on them, prohibits the FCC from regulating broadband rates, and requires the FCC to refrain from further activity of the recently proposed set-top box rule until a study is completed."
[Eye roll]
More importantly, the language of the bill attempts to undermine any power the FCC would have to actually regulate rates and therefore the FCC’s ability to maintain an equal internet.
The budget bill again uses a definition of rate regulation that goes far beyond the utility rate-setting traditionally imposed on landline phone providers. The proposal would prevent the FCC from using its net neutrality rules to act against discriminatory data cap policies, among other things. The FCC is currently examining zero-rating plans that impose data caps on some types of content and not others, but this bill would prevent the FCC from taking any action against such plans.
"None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to regulate, directly or indirectly, the prices, other fees, or data caps and allowances... charged or imposed by providers of broadband Internet access service... regardless of whether such regulation takes the form of requirements for future conduct or enforcement regarding past conduct," the proposal says
Needless to say, the budget also goes after the cable-box proposal by taking away the FCC’s ability to take action on set-top boxes until the FCC jumped through all of the same investigative hoops it already has, and then a few more for good measure.