The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama likely would veto upcoming legislation that would unwind net-neutrality rules the Federal Communications Commission adopted last year.
Senate Journal Resolution 6, (.pdf) which is expected to go to the Senate floor perhaps as early as this week, “would undermine a fundamental part of the Nation’s Open Internet and innovation strategy — an enforceable, effective but flexible policy for keeping the internet free and open,” the White House said. (.pdf) The House passed a similar measure last spring, and Obama had threatened to veto that, too, if it landed on his desk.
The Senate measure, which mirrors the House resolution, says Congress “disapproves” of the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which “shall have no force or effect.” The rules, which don’t go into effect until Nov. 20, bar broadband providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable from playing favorites with internet traffic, while a lighter set of rules applies to mobile broadband providers like Verizon.