Marco Rubio Comes Out Swinging at Obama's Net Neutrality Plan

From his perch on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., came out swinging at President Barack Obamas call for Internet neutrality on Monday.

The Internet is one of the greatest economic stories in all of history, one whose openness has given people unprecedented opportunities to innovate and create jobs, Rubio said on Monday. President Obamas announced support for more government regulation of the Internet threatens to restrict Internet growth and increase costs on Internet users. Furthermore, applying heavy-handed Title II classification to Internet service sends the wrong message to international stakeholders that look to the United States for leadership in Internet governance, and undermines our support for an open Internet, free of government intervention.

Instead of reclassifying Internet service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, the FCC should allow Congress to update this law, Rubio added. I believe it should be a top priority of the new Congress to provide clarity on the FCCs role in the modern communications landscape.