Testimony preview: McDowell on net neutrality

Republican Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell will testify at a net-neutrality hearing on Thursday that existing antitrust laws are sufficient to prevent abuses by service providers, according to a copy of his opening statement obtained by The Hill. 

The Thursday hearing is before the House Judiciary Competition subcommittee, where subpanel Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is considering tweaks to antitrust law to protect Internet openness.

McDowell will argue that:

• "Nothing is broken in the broadband Internet access market that needs fixing;

• Congress never gave the FCC the legal authority to act as it did;

• The order is likely to cause more harm than good; and

• Sufficient antitrust and consumer protection laws exist to prevent and cure any of the contemplated harms outlined in the order."