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Congress Slow to Agree on Internet Regulation

Internet
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Few members of Congress appear willing to move toward a bipartisan update to the 80-year-old, Depression-era law that top U.S. regulators say gives them the authority to regulate the Internet.

That means that communications legislation written in 1934 will likely be used to regulate how Internet service providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast do business with content providers like Google, Netflix, YouTube and Amazon.

Many people say too much regulation and imposing taxes on Internet commerce could chill investment. But consumers also support the idea of an open Internet and "net neutrality," in which service providers don't manipulate or block web traffic.

On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced a plan that would put Internet service in the same regulatory camp as the telephone.

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