Walden Plans Internet Regulation Hearings in 2013

The subcommittee will begin its session with a joint hearing on federal regulations regarding the Internet with the House Foreign Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade. “I am very concerned about what happened in Dubai regarding the Internet,” Walden said. The hearing will examine what America’s policy should be going forward “to make sure the Internet is free from legacy regulation and from countries that have a different view about democracy and freedom,” he said. Walden said he doesn’t yet have a sense for which witnesses would be called for the hearing.

If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturns the FCC’s net neutrality order, Walden said he will prevent the advance of any legislation aimed at codifying the commission’s ability to ensure an open Internet. “Not on my watch,” he said. “In fact I think it’s part of the problem we have internationally. We heard … from some who were at Dubai that pointed to the FCC’s net neutrality rule as an example of the United States getting involved at some level in managing the Internet or regulating the Internet. I actually think it brings about a problem that could be much greater.” Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said Tuesday that if the court overturns the order she would introduce legislation to clarify the authority of the agency to protect an open Internet (WID Jan 23 p4).

Walden said the subcommittee will hold a hearing on the reauthorization of STELA, which expires Dec. 31, 2014. He said the hearing will “lay the groundwork” to evaluate whether changes in the marketplace will require a clean reauthorization or if it leads to a look at the Cable Act or the Telecom Act: “There are some people out there in the [communications] world that say you don’t have to reauthorize it and there are other people who want to hook every trailer they ever thought about having in video environment onto it. So we will start with an open process there.” Walden said a discussion of retransmission consent will likely emerge during the subcommittee’s STELA hearing.

Walden would not commit to any legislative reforms of the ‘96 Telecom Act or the ‘92 Cable Act but said he would continue to evaluate the need to modernize them. “They are big undertakings, I know that. And yet I think at least we need to start down that path and evaluate what is working and what is not, and where we have rules that really are legacy, that hold back technology and jobs. And so I am willing to undertake that. … This is a very vibrant part of our economy that can be made more so if we make the right policy choices."

The subcommittee will continue to hold hearings that examine how the future of audio, video and data should dictate whether new laws are needed to regulate the marketplace,

Walden said. “I'm one who believes that these laws have been on the books a long time and technology has changed while we are sitting here,” he said. “We will continue to look at these issues … because I think we still have more work to do.”

Walden touted the subcommittee’s work on cybersecurity legislation last session and described HR-3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) as “a good starting point.” Generally, the subcommittee is seeking first to “do no harm,” he said. “Don’t over regulate in this environment. … Don’t get too prescriptive -- because when you get too prescriptive the bad guys know what the good guys are held accountable to and then they figure out a way around it.” Walden urged President Barack Obama to “hold off” on issuing a cybersecurity executive order “and work with us on finding common ground.”