Tea Party groups out against network neutrality

Tea Party groups are staking out an anti-regulatory position in the fight over network neutrality rules for phone and cable companies. A coalition that included 35 Tea Party groups sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on August 11 urging the agency not to boost its authority over broadband providers through a controversial process known as reclassification. The Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation was among the groups that signed the letter. Jamie Radtke, the group's chairman, said interest in net neutrality is rising in the Tea Party movement. The free-speech argument holds that, by interfering with how phone and cable companies deliver Internet traffic, the government would be thwarting the free-speech rights of providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.