Freedom Line Blog

Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, discusses why the fight to overturn the FCC’s so-called “Net Neutrality” Order should continue, litigation surrounding he Order, and why this isn’t just an issue for the telecommunications industry.

Listen to the interview here.

Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, discusses net neutrality and the misguided push to have the federal government regulate the Internet.

Listen to the interview here.

If you need another reason to hope for a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate next fall, here you go: a resolution to overturn net neutrality — the Obama Administration’s attempt at a government takeover of the internet — failed today in the upper chamber by a narrow vote of 52-46 (it had previously passed in the House, 240-179).

Of the Republicans who fought the good fight, none put the issue in as sharp relief as Florida freshman Marco Rubio. This a man who gets the bigger picture, as the Daily Caller reports:

“The FCC and the federal government cannot keep pace with the Internet and the technology industries, and the government should not attempt to catch up through regulation or legislation,” said Rubio.

“And that’s an important point. We are asking this government, we are asking this bureaucratic structure which struggles to keep pace with issues we have been facing for the last 20 years, to somehow keep pace with issues and the technology and the innovations that arrive in the Internet world. Not only do I think that is asking too much, I think it’s impossible.” 

Rubio is right on the money, sounding the same cautionary note that CFIF’s Timothy H. Lee has repeatedly emphasized. America has had no more dynamic sector of the economy in the last two decades than the internet, a development that would have been impossible without a relatively light hand from the federal government. If Washington gets in the driver’s seat, we should expect the same results that have characterized government involvement in everything from health care to postal service to education: lower quality at higher prices with less convenience. It’s a Wi-Fi world and we’re handing off the internet to a dial-up government.

While no one in the vast right-wing conspiracy is going to outdo CFIF’s own Timothy Lee for principled and prolonged resistance to the FCC’s attempt at a backdoor takeover of the Internet, we appreciate the assist from the folks at Reason. Here, Nick Gillespie lays out three reasons to oppose Washington’s proposed conquest of cyberspace:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 along purely partisan lines today to commence federal government micro-regulation of Internet service.  In response, Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, issued the following statement: 

This spring, a unanimous D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC doesn’t possess authority to impose so-called ‘Net Neutrality’ over the Internet.  In a brazen ploy to circumvent the Court’s ruling, Chairman Genachowski and the FCC today began the process of classifying the Internet as a public utility under laws drafted for Depression-era landline telephones.  Their ultimate goal is to overregulate one of the few bright spots of the American economy. 

“The Internet sector has prospered over the past two decades precisely because the federal government has refrained from micromanaging it.  That ‘hands off’ policy spans both the Clinton and Bush administrations, during which time the Internet has become the most dynamic, innovative and promising sector of our economy and lives.

“That is why almost 250 members of Congress from both parties wrote the FCC admonishing it to refrain from unnecessary overregulation.  That’s why a unanimous D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC doesn’t possess authority to impose so-called ‘Net Neutrality’ over the Internet.  And, that’s why the American public opposes ‘Net Neutrality’ by a two-to-one margin. 

“Unfortunately, all that means nothing to Chairman Genachowski and those scheming to impose counterproductive and unnecessary regulations on the Internet by any means necessary. 

“The FCC’s destructive action will only create regulatory uncertainty, which will discourage private investment, Internet innovation, continued broadband expansion and job growth. 

“The Center for Individual Freedom now calls on all Americans to support H.R. 3924, sponsored Representative Marsha Blackburn (R–TN), which will ensure that Congress and the American people determine this matter, not unelected bureaucrats at the FCC.”

Marking a very welcome victory for individual liberty and the free market, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission does not possess the authority to impose bureaucratic “Net Neutrality” rules upon the Internet sector. 

Net Neutrality’s looming regulatory encroachment into the Internet, which has thrived like no other sector of the American economy precisely because regulators have generally maintained a “hands-off” approach, threatened to stifle broadband investment and expansion.  Fortunately, a unanimous Court ruled that, “the commission has failed to tie its assertion of ancillary authority over Comcast’s Internet service to any statutorily mandated responsibility.”

In an op-ed publish today by The Daily Caller, CFIF’s Jeffrey Mazzella and Timothy Lee warn that proposed “Net Neutrality” rules being considered by President Obama’s Federal Communications Commission threaten to stifle Internet innovation and cut off tens of billions of dollars in private investment  in the deployment of high-speed broadband networks. 

Thanks to private investments of $60 billion or more annually by Internet service providers, the World Wide Web has blossomed over the past decade into a tool that most Americans use daily to access news, information and entertainment. We also use it to communicate with family and friends, to share photos with loved ones, and for education and civic participation purposes. The Internet drives increased commerce and promises efficiencies in the healthcare and energy sectors. It motivates new innovation and jobs on a pace that continues to surpass our collective imagination.

All this has been made possible primarily because the Internet has remained largely unregulated. Its growth and development have been gated not by federal bureaucrats, but rather by users’ individual wants, needs and dreams.

But all of that could change if net neutrality regulations are put in place. …

Read the full piece here.

Join the fight to stop the government takeover of the Internet here.

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT:  Evan Swarztrauber, Director of Public Affairs at TechFreedom – Net Neutrality;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT:  Phil Kerpen, President of American Commitment – President Trump’s 100 Days of Regulatory Reform;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT:  Ryan Young, Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute – Jobs Report;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT:  William Conti, Political Analyst and Partner at Baker & Hostetler – Talking Heads, Healthcare Reform, and the Trump Presidency at 100 Days;

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT:  Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs – Puerto Rico and Trump’s Tax Proposal;  and

5:45 CDT/6:45 EDT:  Harvey Silvergate, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education – Wall Street Journal commentary “Trump and Congress Can Help Restore Campus Free Speech.”

Listen live on the Internet here. Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.”  Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT:  Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President for Legal and Public Affairs – Net Neutrality, the Second Amendment and other Current Issues;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT:  Daniel Kochis, Research Fellow in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom – Brexit Vote, Now What?;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT:  Diego Echeverri, U.S. Army Veteran and Florida State Director for Concerned Veterans of America – “Caring for Our Heroes in the 21st Century Act”; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT:  Andrew Och, Award Winning Television, Multi-Media Producer and Author – “Unusual For Their Time: On the Road with America’s First Ladies”.

Listen live on the Internet here.   Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CST to 6:00 p.m. CST (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.”  Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CST/5:00 pm EST:  Matt Mayer, Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute – Terrorism and the Visa Waiver Program;

4:15 CST/5:15 pm EST:  Bradley A. Smith, Chairman and Founder of Center for Competitive Politics – Fights Over Campaign Finance Laws;

4:30 CST/5:30 pm EST:  Robert Pondiscio, Senior Fellow and Vice President for External Affairs – Common Core;

5:00 CST/6:00 pm EST:  Jenny Beth Martin: President and Co-Founder of Tea Party Patriots – IRS Proposed Regulation Regarding Social Security Numbers and Charitable Donors;

5:15 CST/6:15 pm EST:  Gail Heriot, Law Professor and Member of the US Commission on Civil Rights – Fisher v. University of Texas; and

5:30 CST/6:30 pm EST:  Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President for Legal and Public Affairs – Net Neutrality, Justice Reform and the Second Amendment.

Listen live on the Internet here.   Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.”  Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT:  Tiger Joyce, President of the American Tort Reform Association – Fraud and Mass Tort Advertising;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT:  Tzvi Kahn, Senior Policy Analyst for the Foreign Policy Initiative – Iran;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT:  David Rivkin, Jr., Partner at Baker & Hostetler – The Senate Filibuster; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT: Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs – The Fight Against Net Neutrality and Congressional Litigation Reform Efforts.

Listen live on the Internet here.   Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.”  Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT —  Daren Bakst, Research Fellow in Agricultural Policy, Heritage Foundation:  New School Lunch Requirements and Michelle Obama;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT — Megan L. Brown, Parnter, Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, D.C.:  Supreme Court Round-Up;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT —  Erin Murphy, Parnter, Bancroft PLLC, Washington, D.C.:  McCutcheon v. FEC;

4:45 CDT/5:45 pm EDT —  Paul Kersey, Director of Labor Policy, Illinois Policy Institute:  Unions and Home Healthcare Givers;

5:00 CST/6:00 pm EDT —  Guest T.B.A.:  Obama Administration, Air Pollution and Global Warming;  and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT — Timothy Lee, Senior Vice President, Legal and Public Affairs, CFIF:  Net Neutrality.

Listen live on the Internet here.   Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.