Net Neutrality Repeal Happened and the Internet is Still Here

When Will the Hate Stop?  Unprecedented and personal attacks continue on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as so-called “Net Neutrality” was ended with no discernable differences.  First on the threats, as detailed in the Wall Street Journal yesterday:

On a visit to the Journal today, Mr. Pai wore a suit and tie and maintained his usual cheerful demeanor. But he also reported that the threats against him and his family did not end with the Commission’s December vote to restore the freedom that existed for the Internet’s entire history until 2015.

Today is the expiration date Mr. Pai and his colleagues placed on the 2015 Obama administration rule that applied century-old utility regulation to the Internet. By imposing rules once reserved for the Bell telephone monopoly, the Obama FCC managed to do what had never been done before outside of recessions: reduce the annual amount of money Internet service providers invest in their networks.

This obviously didn’t bode well for customers hoping for fast and reliable service in the future. But Silicon Valley companies like Netflix and Alphabet (owner of YouTube and Google) wanted government to prevent a network operator like AT&T from charging market rates for carrying their enormous video traffic around the Internet.

Chairman Pai has done an incredible job and remains focused on pointing out the reality of the Net Neutrality repeal.  

Mr. Pai has heard all of the overheated claims that he is causing “the end of the Internet as we know it.” Now that today has arrived and there is no disaster, his critics will have to live with their unhinged commentary. “We’re going to remind people” of their absurd apocalyptic forecasts, he says.

For those who want a more technical explanation of what this is all about the Competitive Enterprise Institute does a good job of explaining in this video and a few excerpts from a recent story:

Predictions that ISPs [Internet service providers] will (for example) suddenly start slowing down everyone’s access and blocking categories of content, however, don’t seem to reckon with the fact that the entire history of the consumer Internet up to 2015, when the neutrality standard was implemented, shows the opposite—increasing speeds, access, and availability of an explosively diverse universe of content. There’s no compelling argument that all of that will go away just because ISPs are no longer subject to Title II regulation.

What some net neutrality activists have tried to suggest—that ISPs will now be free to downgrade your service or charge you more in violation of current subscription and contract terms—is absolutely untrue. The FCC is still watching out for anti-competitive and deceptive behavior, and the Federal Trade Commission is now taking the lead with robust enforcement powers in this area. Brent Skorup and Chad Reese of the Mercatus Center argue it could do even more. See also today’s blog post from the R Street Institute’s Joe Kane on why the doomsday predictions didn’t (and won’t) come true. Getting rid of the old net neutrality regulations is about opening up the market for Internet service and content delivery in ways that will unleash a new generation of innovation and investment. We see that investment in broadband declined after the previous rules were implemented. It’s not surprising that companies would be less eager to invest billions of dollars into assets they expect to have less and less control over in the future. With greater freedom to price, discount, and negotiate on both sides (with content providers on the back end and consumer on the front end), companies will be better able to compete by offering new packages, bundles, and services. The Restoring Internet Freedom Order will move us toward better, cheaper and faster broadband for all Americans.

The Internet is free to grow and prosper as before.  Unfortunately, the haters don’t care about reality and worse continue to threaten leaders like Chairman Pai who do.  

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to Address National Policy Conference on April 27

The RNLA is pleased to announce that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai will speak at the National Policy Conference next Friday.

Chairman Pai joined the FCC as a Commissioner in 2012 and was designated as Chairman by President Trump in January 2017.  He has been a leader in the effort to restore the rule of law to federal communications regulation.

Last November, Chairman Pai gave remarks explaining the "Restoring Internet Freedom" order, which undid the FCC's unprecedented overreach in 2015 that created the so-called "net neutrality" policy:

First: what will the plan do? When you cut through the legal terms and technical jargon, it’s very simple. The plan to restore Internet freedom will bring back the same legal framework that was governing the Internet three years ago today and that has governed the Internet for most of its existence. . . . Until 2015, the FCC treated high-speed Internet access as a lightly-regulated “information service” under Title I of the Communications Act. A few years ago, the Obama Administration instructed the FCC to change course. And it did, on a party-line vote in 2015; it classified Internet access as a heavily-regulated “telecommunications service” under Title II of the Communications Act. If the plan is adopted on December 14, we’ll simply reverse the FCC’s 2015 decision and go back to the pre-2015 Title I framework. . . . 

Much of the problem stems from the vague Internet conduct standard that the Commission adopted in 2015—a standard that I’m proposing to repeal. Under this standard, the FCC didn’t say specifically what conduct was prohibited. Instead, it gave itself a roving mandate to second-guess new service offerings, new features, and new business models. Understandably, businesses asked for clarity on how this standard would be applied. My predecessor’s answer, and I quote: “We don’t know, we’ll have to see where things go.” That’s the very definition of regulatory uncertainty. . . . 

Many critics don’t seem to understand that we are moving from heavy-handed regulation to lighttouch regulation, not a completely hands-off approach. We aren’t giving anybody a free pass. We are simply shifting from one-size-fits-all pre-emptive regulation to targeted enforcement based on actual market failure or anticompetitive conduct. . . . By turning back time, so to speak, and returning Internet regulation to the pre-2015 era, we will expand broadband networks and bring high-speed Internet access to more Americans, not fewer. . . . 

This reminds me of another point, one that’s been brought home to me the past few days. This debate needs, our culture needs, a more informed discussion about public policy. We need quality information, not hysteria, because hysteria takes us to unpleasant, if not dangerous places. We can disagree on policy. But we shouldn’t demonize, especially when all of us share the same goal of a free and open Internet. . . . So when you get past the wild accusations, fearmongering, and hysteria, here’s the boring bottom line: the plan to restore Internet freedom would return us to the light touch, market-based approach under which the Internet thrived.

We are grateful to Chairman Pai for his leadership, his commitment to the rule of law, and his steadfast support for freedom from regulatory overreach in the face of harsh and violent criticism.  We are honored for to address the RNLA next Friday, and we invite you to join us.   

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai Warns of Overreaching Regulations

Ajit Pai, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), opposes the federal government’s expanding control of the internet such as the regulation of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Pai agrees that ISPs are “information services” providers and should not be subject to federal regulation unlike public utilities.

While the FCC is expected to vote on a ruling related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TPCA), Pai called for the FCC to make clarifications to the TPCA in an op-ed published in Politico. Pai wrote:

Congress enacted the TCPA in order to crack down on intrusive telemarketers and over-the-phone scam artists…But trial lawyers have twisted the law’s words to target useful communications between legitimate businesses and their customers. And thanks to the $500 penalty, the TCPA has become their ATM.

Pai exposed President Obama’s influence of policy at the FCC while the FCC is supposed to be an independent agency. Pai highlights that:

the agency suddenly chang[ed] course from where it was to mimic the president’s plan…[and] suggests that the independence of the agency has been compromised to some extent.

Unfortunately, the consequences of the FCC’s regulation will include taxes on broadband bills, reduced competition, and smaller Internet service providers may find it difficult to stay in business. Pai also declares that Net Neutrality is "a solution that won't work to a problem that doesn't exist." When FCC regulations mean higher prices and less online innovation, Pai also notes:

[T]he federal government is a pretty poor arbiter of what is reasonable and what is not, and it's exceptionally poor when it comes to having a track record of promoting innovation and investment in broadband networks. That's something the private sector has done a remarkable job of on its own.

Although FCC’s new regulations passed with a 3-2 vote, Pai continues to warn the public about the impact of President Obama and FCC Chair, Tom Wheeler’s plans.

Join fellow the RNLA members on a Conference Call Featuring FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai on June 14, 2015 at 11:30 am. To RSVP to participate in the call and to submit questions, click here.