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Republicans want to find a legislative solution to the controversy over net-neutrality rules, and theyre looking to Silicon Valley to gain the imprimatur of some of the biggest names in tech. On Tuesday, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden invited Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Comcasts Brian Roberts, AT&Ts Randall Stephenson, Amazons Jeff Bezos, Alphabets Larry Page, and Netflixs Reed Hastings to testify before Congress about net neutrality during a hearing scheduled for September. A strong consensus is forming across party lines and across industries that its time for Congress to call a halt on the back-and-forth and set clear net-neutrality ground rules for the Internet, Walden said in a press release. The time has come to get everyone to the table and get this figured out.

A public hearing could allow Republicans to move forward with a compromise bill that would roll back some Obama-era Internet regulations while incorporating feedback from the major Silicon Valley players who would be most affected by the new rules. It could also defuse some of the mounting tension between the G.O.P. and the tech industry, which has found itself at odds with President Donald Trump over immigration. Earlier this month, numerous tech companies participated in a Day of Action, an online protest organized by the nonprofit Fight for the Future to speak out in favor of existing government regulations protecting an open Internet. Among the leaders who called on the Federal Communications Commission to preserve robust net-neutrality rules and for Congress to strengthen those rules in law was Zuckerberg. Right now, the F.C.C. has rules in place to make sure the Internet continues to be an open platform for everyone, the C.E.O. wrote on Facebook at the time. At Facebook, we strongly support those rules. Were also open to working with members of Congress and anyone else on laws to protect net neutrality.

Zuckerberg will soon have the opportunity to air those grievances, if he accepts Waldens invitation. Walden, for his part, is framing the committee hearing as a way to bridge a divide that is smaller than activists think. In some form or another, we have been working for at least 20 years on the intertwined goals of incentivizing the huge investments needed to connect Americans, while keeping the Internet open and protecting consumer privacy, the congressman said in his statement. With almost everyone in agreement about fundamental principles to prevent anti-competitive behavior such as throttling and blocking, I think we are closer than ever to achieving a lasting resolution.

Not all Republicans pushing for a lasting resolution to the net neutrality are expressing themselves in such ecumenical terms. The last F.C.C., at the behest of President Obama, pushed far beyond its legal authority to create an unstable set of mandates and a mountain of unanswered questions, Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn argued in her own statement, deriding the inflammatory rhetoric on the other side of the aisle. The ensuing drama has benefitted certain interest groups but has been detrimental for American innovators and consumers, whose experience and reliance on the Internet are diminished by the lack of clear and predictable rules.

The potential for a legislative compromise could provide a way forward for some tech companies, though the end result is unlikely to please Internet activists and Democrats, who largely favor current rules that treat the Internet as a utility regulated by the F.C.C. Many tech leaders have tended to agree, though Zuckerberg said in his Facebook note earlier this month that hes open to Congress codifying net neutrality more firmly in legislation. A hearing would allow tech executives to formally weigh in on F.C.C. chair Ajit Pais controversial plans to roll back net-neutrality rules, giving them some say in the process. It could also provide a chance for dtente between Republicans and Silicon Valley leadership: earlier this month, the day before the Day of Action, top Republican House leaders warned big tech companies that aggressive pro-net neutrality activism could make it difficult to work together on other policy issues going forward.

The rest is here:
Republicans Want Mark Zuckerberg to Testify Before Congress - Vanity Fair