DETROIT NEWS EDITORIAL: Without authorization from Congress, and in defiance of a federal court ruling, the Federal Communication Commission this month has seized control of the Internet and has started the process of regulating it. The process could distort the evolution of the Internet and slow investment in it. The agency should be told to back off.

The FCC move occurred as the result of a straight party line 3-2 vote, with the Democratic majority deciding to intrude government regulation on the Web. The decision allows the FCC to impose a so-called “net neutrality” regime on the Web, which means Internet providers would not be able to block access to legal websites.

The regime isn’t needed. Providers weren’t doing that anyway. The FCC also gave itself the power to determine if a network is “unreasonably discriminating” against a content provider in determining how quickly to allow content to appear on consumers’ computer screens.
In other words, the FCC has given itself the authority to involve itself in the business decisions of Web access providers.

It has done so even though, this spring, a federal court ruled that the FCC has no express statutory authority to govern the Internet at all. Congress briefly took a pass at creating its own Internet rules this year and gave up the idea. In fact, a number of members of Congress, including many Democrats, told the FCC to back away from its proposed regulations.

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