“We applaud your leadership in initiating a process to develop rules,” executives of the Web sites and Chief Executive Officers Eric Schmidt of Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon said in a letter today to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “A process that results in common-sense baseline rules is critical to ensuring that the Internet remains a key engine of economic growth, innovation and global competitiveness.”

Members of Congress, including Republican leaders and 72 Democrats who signed an Oct. 16 letter, have written to Genachowski questioning the need for the so-called net neutrality rules aimed at preventing Internet providers from favoring some content providers.

AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and other phone companies have said rules on the Internet traffic they carry may hinder their ability to manage networks. The FCC is to vote Oct. 22 on its framework for developing the regulations.

Signers of todays letter included the CEOs of EchoStar Corp., EBay Inc. and IAC/InterActive Corp., according to a copy distributed by e-mail by the Open Internet Coalition. Membership of the Washington-based group, funded by Internet companies, includes Google, Amazon and consumer groups, said spokesman Eric London in an interview.

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