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Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 along party lines to establish Net Neutrality Internet regulations.  The rules will determine how Internet service providers can manage data on their networks.  Kelly William Cobb, executive director of Americans for Tax Reform's Digital Liberty Project, issued the following statement:

“Today, the FCC shackled a hitherto innovative and dynamic Internet with unwarranted and burdensome regulations.  The rules, crafted in a non-transparent and partisan process, lack proof of any market failure and ignore opposition from Congress, the courts, and the American public.

“The FCC’s last-ditch Net Neutrality rules will face an incoming Congress even more dead-set against Internet regulation than the current one.  The new Congress should use every opportunity to take these regulations head on.  Additionally, three of the five Commissioners have expressly acknowledged that this decision stands on dubious legal ground and is highly unlikely to survive a court challenge, much like its predecessor earlier this year.

“Net Neutrality proponents view it as a means to an end, and they will use this foot in the door to forever push for greater regulation of the Internet.  By leaving the Title II reclassification docket open, the FCC continues to create enormous uncertainty and invites calls for more unnecessary, Depression-era regulations.

“The Commission knows full well that the future of communications largely lies with the Internet.  Despite highly tenuous legal standing and enormous opposition, this vote is a clear attempt by the FCC to gain regulatory control over the hitherto free-market bastion that has revolutionized how we interact and communicate today.”