Obama says FCC should reclassify internet as a utility

[Xithras]

64. You misunderstand. I don't want ANYTHING banned. But the Repubs do.

This change would give them the power to do that the next time we have a Rethug president. Once the Internet is declared a utility under FCC authority, the President will be given regulatory control over it. That may be fine when we have Democrats in the White House, but that won't always be the case.

In 2012, the US Supreme Court declined to review its 1978 ruling (FCC vs. Pacifica) granting the FCC legal authority to regulate "incecency". The Court stated that the FCC had the authority to prohibit broadcasts when needed in order to protect children and society, and gave the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency in different contexts. If the FCC wants to ban something, they don't have to go to Congress for permission and can simply issue an immediate ban. If Congress doesn't like it, they have to pass a law to specifically curtail that action.

If the FCC is placed in charge of the Internet, it's foolish to think that the Repubs won't take advantage of that regulatory ability the next time they're in power. Remember, these are the same Repubs who manipulated the same FCC rulemaking ability to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine and create todays Hate Radio networks. Do we REALLY want to give them the same power over the Internet?