According to a recent press release posted by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) in late February, a nonpartisan advocacy, research and education organization focused on protecting small business and fostering entrepreneurship, "The vote by three members of the FCC to regulate the Internet with archaic public utility rules represents everything that Americans and entrepreneurs dislike about Washington."

According to the release, the final regulatory steps were secretive, in that the contents of Chairman Tom Wheeler's plan were hidden from the public prior to the vote. "Therefore, there was no opportunity to hear the views of ordinary citizens and entrepreneurs."

The release added, "America's Internet has been the new frontier for innovation and entrepreneurship. Small businesses and their workforces have benefited greatly from the broadband Internet and technological tools that increase their productivity and competitiveness. Vigorous investment and significant risks taken by many in the private sector created these amazing technologies. This innovation has occurred under light-touch regulation, supported by Democrats and Republicans over the years, recognizing that intrusive government action could upend the potential of the Internet."

According to the release, "Treating the Internet as an old-style public utility, with the complex rules, fees, taxes and burdensome red tape that go along with such a regulatory framework, will vastly change the Internet and the pace of new technologies moving forward. Small business owners are not looking forward to the higher costs these regulations will impose, or the longer waiting periods for broadband or new competitors to their current providers."

An even more recent release by the SBE Council in mid-March noted: "When government regulates as intrusively as the FCC has done through its order to regulate the Internet, small business owners and entrepreneurs always get the short end of the stick. As innovators competing against bigger players in providing Internet service, and as consumers who depend on affordable access to quality broadband, we do not see how regulating the Internet as a public utility will be a plus for small businesses."

Commissioner Ajit Paj, one of two dissenting voices in the 3-2 FCC vote, noted, "Monopoly rules from a monopoly era will move us toward a monopoly."

The SBE Council release also noted that a Center for Regulatory Solutions survey conducted in 2014 found widespread concern with the federal regulatory process in general, with 84 percent of respondents believing that "too many special interests" control the regulatory process, and 72 percent stating that rules are "created in a closed secretive process," and in a way that "does not consider real-world impact."

The release concluded by stating that, "We are supporting efforts by the Congress to conduct vigorous oversight of the FCC's regulatory process and the final order itself. The six-page draft bill unveiled by House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman John Thune (R-SD), and House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) is a fine alternative to the FCC's intrusive 300-plus page order to aggressively regulate the Internet. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have come to depend on a responsive, innovative, high-quality Internet. The draft congressional plan will promote strong investment and support and Internet ecosystem that needs the freedom and flexibility to innovate and serve its customers well."

Instant Insights /

FCC vote on Internet is problematic for small businesses

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