Three dozen Democratic members of Congress have asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to use Title II authority to protect Internet openness.
That letter was part of a flood of advice from the Hill and elsewhere in advance of the FCC's scheduled open Internet rule vote May 15.
"We urge the FCC to use its clear authority under Title II of the Communications Act to reclassify the transmission component of broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service," they wrote.
Without such strong protections, they say, the Internet "could devolve into a closed platform in which those who pay the most can overwhelm other views and ideas."
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed using Sec. 706 authority to restore open Internet rules thrown out by the court, but will also raise Title II as a viable option and ask for more input on whether that is the way to go.
Signatories to the letter included Reps. John Conyers (Mich.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), and Jerrold Nadler and Charlie Rangel (both New York).
