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After years fighting regulation, Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, right, now has a net neutrality bill to preempt the FCC. Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden, who long campaigned for "open internet" rules, now appear happy with the new status quo.
(Oregonian photos)
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden casts himself as a champion of the "open Internet."
Rep. Greg Walden stands as a stalwart opponent of Internet regulation.
Net neutrality
What it is
: The principle that all data should be treated equally online. Proponents say that without legal or regulatory protection, Internet service providers would charge for priority access - raising costs for Netflix and other online services, and pricing innovative new services out of the market. Opponents object to any Internet regulation, arguing that government oversight will stifle investment and new ideas, and could open the door to Internet taxation.
Where it stands
: The FCC is due to vote Thursday on a proposal to classify Internet service as a telecom utility, giving the commission the authority to enforce net neutrality.
Taking sides
: Comcast and other Internet service providers are lined up against net neutrality, preferring to operate their services without government oversight. This would leave them the flexibility, of course, to charge different prices for different types of access. Big tech companies led by Netflix, Twitter and Google strongly favor net neutrality. In Oregon, Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden are net neutrality advocates. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden had opposed regulation, but now wants a legislative compromise as an alternative to the FCC's rules.
With the Federal Communications Commission poised to vote Thursday on new regulatory authority over the Internet, two members of Oregon's congressional delegation are leading figures at polar-opposite ends of the debate over "net neutrality."
Thursday's FCC vote, likely along party lines, would give the commission -- controlled by Democrats -- tools to ensure Internet service providers treat all online traffic equally.
It's a long-simmering debate that has pitted Republicans and Internet service providers like Comcast against Democrats and online services including Netflix and Twitter.
With Thursday's FCC vote apparently a foregone conclusion, Republican Walden has taken up a fallback position: congressional regulation to override the FCC's rules.
"Things have shifted quite a bit and the legislative draft we put forward reflects that," Walden said Wednesday.
Now, Wyden and fellow Democrats who spent years campaigning for congressional action on net neutrality appear content with the new status quo. Democrats have shown no appetite to compromise with Walden on legislation, satisfied to let the FCC's new rules stand while the issue plays out in front of judges.
"The FCC, the courts, the Congress, it was a triangle. All three were going to be involved," Wyden said in an interview last week. He argues that net neutrality will ensure new ideas and new companies will have equal access to the web.
"I still believe at the end of the day that the fight for an open Internet is going to be resolved with the side of innovation," he said.
Their reversals are a tactical change driven by a switch at the FCC.
Poised last year to enact modest rules on net neutrality, Chairman Tom Wheeler changed his mind after a deluge of online comments and a public declaration in favor of strong regulation from President Barack Obama.
The net neutrality debate has roots in Portland, which tried in the 1990s to force Internet service companies to open their networks to competitors. The courts blocked that effort and the debate shifted to rules about how Internet service providers manage their networks.
Republicans aligned with Comcast and other Internet service providers, arguing that regulation could make it more difficult for ISPs to recoup the billions of dollars they invest in building communications networks.
Democrats lined up with Netflix, Google, Twitter and others who fear ISPs could erect an online toll that makes it more expensive for them to reach their users.
Though Oregon has no large telecom companies, Walden has been at the forefront of the debate by virtue of his position as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. He's also become a major recipient of campaign donations from the cable TV industry.
Meanwhile, Wyden built strong relationships with Internet companies in the 1990s by authoring legislation to block online taxes. He nurtured those ties by opposing legislation to crack down on Internet piracy, a step opponents feared would restrict online speech.
(Wyden's top contributors are professional services companies -- lawyers, health professionals, securities and investment firms and insurance companies, among them.)
In recent years, he's touted his online credentials while opposing spying by the National Security Agency and rallying grassroots support for net neutrality.
On timber payments to rural Oregon counties and other state-specific matters, Walden and Wyden sometimes collaborate. So do they talk net neutrality?
"No," is Walden's one-word answer.
Now that he's seeking compromise, Walden said, he's "baffled" the Obama administration and congressional Democrats won't work with him on a deal. The alternative to legislation, he said, is prolonged uncertainty in the courts - which may someday reverse the FCC's actions.
"I think the FCC lacks the authority to do what they're going to do," he said. "I think they are walking into a litigation quagmire they'll be stuck in for years."
Critics have suggested that Walden's net neutrality bill, introduced last month, is inadequate to provide the online protections he now says he favors. Walden defends his legislation as a sensible approach to limited regulation.
Regardless, he said, he's open to negotiating changes if Democrats will talk with him. And he's hopeful those discussions will be possible once the FCC commissioners weigh in Thursday.
" We'll have a better opportunity once this is voted on," Walden said.
-- Mike Rogoway
mrogoway@oregonian.com
503-294-7699
@rogoway