FCC regulation of Internet is ‘Trojan horse’ for government takeover of web

President Obama’s push for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the Internet as a utility “is a Trojan horse for a government takeover of the Internet,” one U.S. Congresswoman charged.

“The courts have already rejected the FCC’s attempts to do so,” U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a statement.

“President Obama encouraging the FCC to go behind the courts will not result in an Internet that is ‘free and open,’” Blackburn said. “Rather, it will destroy innovation and hand control over the placement of content to the government. The President’s pledge of rules preserving ‘openness’ sounds eerily similar to ‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.’”

In a statement on Monday, Obama said “the FCC should create a new set of rules protecting net neutrality and ensuring that neither the cable company nor the phone company will be able to act as a gatekeeper, restricting what you can do or see online.”