The Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on Thursday to regulate the Internet as a public good, the New York Times reports, and Republican lawmakers who have opposed the impending decision are backing down.

According to the Times, the Republican opposition has folded under mounting pressure from Internet users mobilized by companies like Tumblr, Twitter, and Netflix.

"Tech companies would be better served to work with Congress on clear rules for the road. The thing that they're buying into right now is a lot of legal uncertainty," Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota and chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said. "I'm not sure exactly what their thinking is.

"The closer we get to the FCC rubber-stamping President Obama's internet grab, the more disturbing it becomes," Representative Greg Walden, the Republican chairman of the House communications and technology subcommittee, said in a statement.

Democrats have refused to even talk about legislation until after Thursday's vote, the Times reports.

"We're not going to get a signed bill that doesn't have Democrats' support," said Thune. "I told Democrats, Yes, you can wait until the 26th, but you're going to lose the critical mass I think that's necessary to come up with a legislative alternative once the FCC acts."

"This is not East Coast-West Coast thing. It's not a for-profit company versus nonprofit thing. It's all of us," said Dave Steer, the Mozilla Foundation's director for advocacy. "We came together under the banner of Team Internet."

The Guardian reports that on Wednesday the House oversight committee will begin investigating claims that President Obama railroaded the FCC into voting to enforce net neutrality.

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