WASHINGTON – House Republicans moved to nullify a U.S. rule barring Internet-service providers led by AT&T Inc. from interfering with Web traffic, as minority Democrats defended the regulation.
The rule “will harm jobs and the economy by stifling investment and innovation,” Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee, said on Monday as the panel discussed a measure to reverse the regulation.
The panel is to vote Wednesday on a resolution killing the Federal Communications Commission’s December approval of the rule on a 3-2 Democrat-led vote. The Republicans’ measure would wipe out the regulation and prevent the agency from passing similar rules.
The measure also would need approval by the full House and the Democrat-led Senate, and a signature by President Barack Obama, who backed the FCC’s action.
Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the measure “a resolution in search of a problem” and said it would remove protection from online innovators.
