Mozilla on Friday issued its support for the Federal Communications Commission's proposed net neutrality rules, but a House Republican this week introduced a bill that would block the commission's efforts.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee introduced the Real Stimulus Act of 2009, which would prohibit the FCC from "needlessly imposing regulations on the Internet," Blackburn said in a statement.

The congresswoman asserts that the FCC's rules "ironically would make the Internet less neutral by allowing the FCC to regulate it in the same way it regulates radio and television broadcasts."

Specifically, Blackburn's bill says the FCC cannot "propose, promulgate, or issue any regulations regarding the Internet or IP-enabled services." The measure is a companion bill to one introduced last week by Sen. John McCain titled the Internet Freedom Act.

"The Internet is the last truly open public marketplace," Blackburn said. "The FCC has plenty on its plate with the regulation of television and radio; let's not add to their workload by giving them authority over the Internet."

Net neutrality is the theory that everyone should have equal access to the Internet. A major tech company should not be able to pay a provider to load its Web site faster than a mom-and-pop site, for example. Most are in agreement that that should be the case – the discussion at this point is whether the government should step in and regulate net neutrality or if industry should self-regulate.

The FCC proposed official net neutrality rules at its Oct. 22 meeting, and stakeholders have until early next year to submit comments.

In a Friday editorial for the Wall Street Journal, Mozilla executives voiced their support for the FCC's rules.

"As heads of an Internet company competing in today's marketplace, we fully support the FCC's proposal," wrote chair Mitchell Baker and CEO John Lilly. "The fundamental technologies of the Internet have always been open; the FCC's proposed rules would merely preserve that openness."

Baker and Lilly supported the FCC's plans to extend net neutrality rules to the wireless industry. "Nondiscriminatory access to content is what created the miracle of the Internet. It must be preserved," they wrote.

Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who has penned legislation in favor of net neutrality, also wrote an editorial today for the Huffington Post on the topic.

"If adopted, the Commission's net neutrality protections will ensure that users have unfettered access to all lawful online content and applications," Markey wrote. "These measures, which will be crafted over the coming months by the FCC, are urgently needed to preserve the openness and competition that have made the Internet the most successful communications medium in human history."