WASHINGTON — Reports surfaced today about FCC-brokered, closed-door meetings between the agency and representatives of telephone, cable, and edge companies. The meetings seek an industry compromise on net neutrality rules in order to avoid debate and decision on the proper regulatory classification of broadband Internet access services.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Senior Vice President and Policy Director of Media Access Project, issued the following statement in response to these reports:

“The FCC’s job is to regulate, not legislate, and that it what it should be doing. This secretive process is especially unseemly for what is supposed to have been the most transparent FCC in history.

“The Commission set a rapid timetable to reassert its legal authority over broadband transmission, and it should stick to that plan. Only in doing so can the agency effectively carry out its National Broadband Plan and fulfill the presidential campaign promise to protect the open Internet.”

Media Access Project is a non-profit, public interest law firm working to protect free expression, innovation, and economic growth by promoting low cost, universal access to media outlets and communications services, and encouraging vibrant public discourse.