In 1934, Congress created by law the FCC(Federal Communications Commission). It is established to be an independent regulatory commission. Congress has authority over this area and to create this commission because this is interstate commerce. Interstate Commerce is the purchase, sale or exchange of commodities, transportation of money, goods, people, and the navigation of waters that crosses different state lines. For example, radio waves and airline travel.
Congress has the authority because the Commerce Clause is an enumerated power authorized to the federal government under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause states in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”
The FCC has law making power appointed to them by Congress, not the Constitution. The FCC creates rules that congress enforces through the law that formed the FCC. Congress is the only one who has the authority to regulate interstate commerce. As of now the FCC doesn’t. Congress isn’t going to expand the FCC’s power until it’s absolutely necessary. This is giving power to an independent agency that consists of members that are appointed, not elected. Once any power has been given, it is nearly impossible to take it away.
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“On December 14, 2017, the Trump FCC voted to make the open internet — and the “network neutrality” principles that sustain it — a thing of the past.” The quality of the internet and the things you can view on the internet are at risk of falling into the hands of wealthy and greedy companies. Those companies could potentially disregard argumentative viewpoints and smaller websites and center their attention on websites who have the most money to pay for the content.
The FCC has voted against net neutrality protections. The telecommunications companies (An organization that provides voice or data transmission services, such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and Sprint) could have the power to control how the people use the internet to access videos, information and make purchases. June 11, 2018 marked the end of the federal government’s net neutrality rules. This changes our Internet policy and the Web as a whole.
Broadband provides now have the right to seek new ways of earning money. They can engage in that activity without legal repercussions as long as they inform those changes to the FCC or the public. Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast are a few of the internet Providers that claim that they still will not block, slow down content, or offer paid prioritization. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that these internet providers will stay true to their commitment.
More than 20 states have sued the FCC to stop the repeal. The case is being held in a Federal appeals court. States have also tried to develop, “legislation laying out their own net neutrality rules or by issuing gubernatorial executive orders that limit which Internet providers can do business with the state.” Over the weekend of September 29, 2018 Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a bill that would require their Internet Service Providers to uphold net neutrality as a matter of law for the Citizens of California. Including, Washington, Oregon, Vermont there are now four out of thirty state legislatures who have passed their own law to protect Net Neutrality.
The Department of Justice has sued California over its new net neutrality law. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asserts that the California law is illegal by remarking, “Once again the California legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy. The Justice Department should not have to spend valuable time and resources to file this suit today, but we have a duty to defend the prerogatives of the federal government and protect our Constitutional order.’
It is not in the state of California’s jurisdiction to regulate Net Neutrality because it is Congress’s right. Unfortunately, we don’t get to decide the authority’s of the state until it is argued and decided by the court. A rule in the constitution is that a state may not be sued until the state consents to be sued. California will most likely not win this fight because there’s a 6th to 3 conservative majority on the court.
Removing the strict net neutrality rules will most likely lead to fewer people having access to information and democracy working less efficiently. On top of that, we’ve screwed up other parts of government regulations and as a result the people don’t have many options of where you can access your internet from. We messed this up by allowing mergers and now there’s no competition in broadband access. We need to regulate the people who control the pipes, stop mergers and prevent these companies from expanding.
In order to achieve this Congress needs to get involved. Members of Congress can test the FCC action to see if it’s constitutional. The people can call their state representatives and share their opinion to push Congress to act in favor of the people. After all, it is Congress’s obligation to represent and give the people the power.
