FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASHINGTON 
OFFICE OF 
THE CHAIRMAN 
The Honorable Louise Slaughter 
U.S. House of Representatives 
2469 Rayburn House Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20515 
Dear Congresswoman Slaughter: 
October 17, 2014 
Thank you for your letter about the need for the Commission to restore rules to protect 
the Open Internet. I share your concerns. Since the D.C. Circuit's decision in January, there are 
no rules in place to prevent a broadband provider from engaging in conduct harmful to Internet 
openness, such as blocking a consumer from accessing a requested website or degrading the 
performance of an innovative Internet application. The Open Internet is too important to leave 
consumers and innovators unprotected. We must reinstate strong, enforceable Open Internet 
rules, and we must do so with dispatch. 
As you know, in May, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
("Notice") to begin that process. We asked a fundamental question: What is the right public 
policy to ensure that the Internet remains open? And we sought comment on the best way to 
achieve that fundamental policy goal. The response has been remarkable: Over 3.7 million 
comments were filed by the close of the comment period on September 15, 2014. This record­
setting level of public engagement reflects the vital nature of Internet openness and the 
importance of our getting the answer right in this proceeding. 
Your letter touches on key issues in the Notice, and it will be included in the record and 
considered as a part of the Commission's review. You call on the FCC to ensure that "the 
Internet does not become the bastion of powerful incumbents and carriers, but rather remains a 
place where all speakers, creators, and innovators can harness its power now and in the future. " I 
wholeheartedly agree. The purpose of our Open Internet rules will be to protect and promote the 
Open Internet, including eliminating discrimination that harms consumers, competition, and free 
expression. You also raise concerns about " [ e ]recting toll booths or designating fast lanes on the 
information superhighway." Here, too , we agree. I have repeatedly stated my opposition to "fast 
lanes" that degrade the quality of the consumer's experience or create an artificial structure that 
interferes with the virtuous cycle of the Internet ecosystem. With concerns like these in mind, 
our Notice expressly asks whether and how the Commission can prohibit or presume illegal paid 
prioritization practices, consistent with our authority. 
With respect to your concerns about the legal foundation for our rules, the Commission is 
considering several options, including Section 706 and Title II of the Communications Act. The 
Notice specifically asks questions about these approaches, including whether the Commission 
should revisit its classification of broadband service as an information service or whether we 
Page 2-The Honorable Louise Slaughter 
should separately identify and classify under Title II a service that "broadband providers .. . 
furnish to edge providers." For approaches involving a Title II classification, we also ask about 
how our forbearance authority should be used to tailor Title II obligations to achieve our public 
policy goals. Since the Notice, record filings by some pmiies- such as AOL, Mozilla, the 
Center for Democracy and Teclmology, a coalition oflibrary and higher education associations, 
Rep. Henry Waxman, and others- have suggested additional approaches that would combine 
aspects of both our Section 706 and Title II authority. We are looking closely at these 
approaches as well. This reflects what I have said many times, most recently before the House 
Committee on Small Business: All options remain on the table, including Title II. 
You also urge the adoption of Open Internet rules that apply to points of interconnection, 
as well as the last mile, and to mobile broadband in the same ways as fixed. Our Notice asked 
questions about whether changes in Internet ecosystem should lead the Commission to revisit 
and expand the scope of the 2010 rules in these ways. In addition, we held separate Open 
Internet Roundtable discussions on September 16, 2014, focused on the scope of our Open 
Internet rules and whether and how they should apply to mobile broadband, including the 
application of reasonable network management to wireless technologies. 
Our Notice, of course, is just the beginning. In addition to our Roundtable discussions on 
the scope of the rules and mobile issues, I was also pleased to participate in Roundtable 
discussions about how to tailor our rules to achieve our policy goals, enforcement, technology, 
economic theory, and, most recently, legal authority. Through these events, we have heard 
views of experts on all sides of the issue, along with real-time input from the public. At the smne 
time, a cross-Commission staff team is hard at work reviewing the many comments filed over the 
last four months. Our efforts will ensure that all views are taken into account as the Commission 
looks to adopt sustainable rules that achieve our shared Open Internet goals. 
From the outset of this critically important unde1iaking, I have been and remain 
committed to exercising the Commission' s authority, as needed, to ensure the Internet remains 
free and open for decades to come. I look forward to continued engagement with you as the 
proceeding moves forward to a successful conclusion. 
Sincere!~~ ~ ~ 
--b..l-1~-!-
Tom Wheeler