6 People Who Loathe the FCC's Net Neutrality Plan

When the Federal Communications Commission today approved its net neutrality rules, the commission meeting room erupted in applause from open Internet advocates. But as the lengthy dissents from the Republican commissioners on the panel made clear, not everyone believes the vote was a win for the Internet.

For a full rundown of the FCC's new rules, check out this explainer and the video below. But here are a few groups and individuals, however, who won't be raising a glass to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler tonight.

1. Michael Powell, Cable Industry Chief
Michael Powell, a former FCC chairman, and current president and CEO of NCTA, which represents the cable industry, had strong words for his former employers. "Today, the FCC took one of the most regulatory steps in its history," he said in a statement. "It began regulating the Internet, abruptly abandoning a bipartisan national commitment to limited government involvement that has reigned for decades."

"The Commission has breathed new life into the decayed telephone regulatory model and applied it to the most dynamic, free-wheeling and innovative platform in history," Powell argued. We might not see any changes to the Web tomorrow, but down the line, consumers "surely will bear the burden of new taxes and increased costs, and they will likely wait longer for faster and more innovative networks since investment will slow in the face of bureaucratic oversight," he said.

2. Michael E. Glover, Verizon Policy SVP
Verizon took the time to post its statement in Morse Code and print the translation in an old-fashioned font complete with ink smudges. Why? Because the FCC is imposing 1930s rules on the Internet, Verizon says.

"Today's decision by the FCC to encumber broadband Internet services with badly antiquated regulations is a radical step that presages a time of uncertainty for consumers, innovators and investors," said Michael E. Glover, Verizon senior vice president, public policy, and government affairs. "Over the past two decades a bipartisan, light- touch policy approach unleashed unprecedented investment and enabled the broadband Internet age consumers now enjoy."

The FCC is indeed applying a portion of the 1934 Communications Act, known as Title II, to broadband Internet. Chairman Tom Wheeler, however, insists the FCC is taking a 21st century approach by imposing only a portion of the Title II regulations.

3. Jim Cicconi, AT&T EVP
AT&T gets a little wistful in its statement, lamenting the fact that a 3-2 vote "is a rejection of the compromise win and an embrace, however reluctant, of the political fight." Oddly, AT&T argues that the FCC's 2010 rules were a "bipartisan win," though they too were approved by a 3-2 vote split by party lines. Those rules, however, were supported by AT&T, Jim Cicconi, AT&T's EVP of external and legislative affairs, said today. "We have never argued there should be no regulation in this area, simply that there should be smart regulation," he said. "What doesn't make sense, and has never made sense, is to take a regulatory framework developed for Ma Bell in the 1930s and make her great grandchildren, with technologies and options undreamed of eighty years ago, live under it."

4. Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA CEO
One of the two Republican commissioners who dissented during the FCC's 2010 net neutrality vote was Meredith Attwell Baker, who now serves as president and CEO of CTIA, the wireless industry trade group. In a Thursday statement, Baker argued that "Title II needlessly puts at risk our nation's 5G future and the promise of a more connected life." Today's vote is "disappointing and unnecessary," she said.

Not all CTIA members agree with Baker's assessment, however.

Mike Sievert, T-Mobile's Chief Operating Officer, told The Wall Street Journal last week that nothing about the FCC's plan "gives us deep concern about our ability to continue executing our strategy," though reclassification would not be the carrier's first choice.

Sprint, however, has no objections to Title II. "Sprint does not believe that a light touch application of Title II, including appropriate forbearance, would harm the continued investment in, and deployment of, mobile broadband services," Sprint CTO Stephen Bye wrote in a recent letter.

5. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)
Thune, the new chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee called the FCC's vote a "power grab," and insisted that "only action by Congress can fix the damage and uncertainty this FCC order has inflicted on the Internet." Thune has introduced legislation that would essentially put the FCC's 2010 rules in place, but also strip the agency of its authority to impose Title II on the broadband industry.

6. Mark Cuban
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," entrepreneur Cuban told The Washington Post in a recent interview. He backed paid prioritization because "there will be many applications that we can't foresee today. [And] we need those applications to not just have priority, but guaranteed quality of service."

For more reaction, check out the slideshow above.