• Dow Jones, Monday, May 10, 2010 10:41 PM

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media Corp., says the Federal Communications Commission appears to be acting in the interests of Silicon Valley and major Internet companies in taking a more aggressive stance on Internet regulation, reports Dow Jones. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced he'll begin a process to reclassify broadband service as a telecommunications service, subjecting the Internet to some of the same oversight as telephone services. The move raised concerns in the cable and telecom industries that the FCC will take too strong a regulatory hand with the Internet, damping investment and innovation in the business.

Support for the FCC fell along political lines since Genachowski is an Obama appointee. The Republicans opposed any measures he suggested; the Democrats by and large supported them. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) called it "A moderate, pragmatic step," while Republican House Minority Leader John A. Boehner called the move a "government takeover of the Internet."

Businesses also are divided, notes The Washington Times. While Internet giants like Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have been lobbying hard in favor of net neutrality rules, service providers have vehemently opposed them.

"We believe that the chairman's stated approach is legally unsupported. The regulatory and judicial proceedings that will ensue can only bring confusion and delay to the important work of continuing to build the nations broadband future," said Tom Tauke, executive vice president of Verizon, which has been challenging cable companies with its high-speed FiOS service.

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