Today: Congress and the FTC React to Pai's Net Neutrality Plans
Congress and FTC React To Pai's Net Neutrality Plans
Congressional leaders issued the following joint statement in response to FCC Chairman Pai’s remarks on his plans for reversing the prior FCC’s Order treating broadband Internet access service as a regulated telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act. (See our 4/26/17 Blog “Pai Discusses Fate of Net Neutrality - or - “Future of Internet Freedom”)
“We have long said that imposing a Depression-era, utility-style regulatory structure onto the internet was the wrong approach, and we applaud Chairman Pai’s efforts to roll back these misguided regulations. Consumers want an open internet that doesn’t discriminate on content and protects free speech and consumer privacy. It’s now time for Republicans and Democrats, internet service providers, edge providers, and the internet community as a whole to come together and work toward a legislative solution that benefits consumers and the future of the internet.”
The joint statement was issued by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD), House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Senate Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS).
However, Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) had a different take on Pai’s announcement, saying in a statement that:
“Gutting these rules robs Americans of protections that preserve their access to the open and free internet. Depriving the FCC of its ongoing, forward-looking oversight of the broadband industry amounts to a dereliction of duty at a time when guaranteeing an open internet is more critical than ever. Chairman Pai should back off from rolling back these essential net neutrality rules.”
Acting Federal Trade Commission Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen issued her own statement on the announcement saying:
“I welcome Chairman Pai’s announcement as an important step toward restoring the FTC’s ability to protect broadband subscribers from unfair and deceptive practices, including violations of their privacy. Those consumer protections were an unfortunate casualty of the FCC’s 2015 decision to subject broadband to utility-style regulation. I look forward to working with Chairman Pai and other stakeholders to return to broadband subscribers the consumer protections they deserve.”
FCC Commissioner O’Rielly also discussed the Chairman’s proposal in his own April 26, 2017, speech at the Freedom Works and Small Business & Entrepreneurial Council Event. He supported the Chairman’s initiative, saying, in part:
“Today, my colleague and I announce the beginning of a process to free the Internet from the terrible restraints of common carrier regulation now imposed on America’s broadband providers. After almost two years of experience, it is clear that this archaic regime never should have been imposed in the first place. O’Rielly went on to say that “[w]hile the concepts of “no blocking” and “no throttling” are relatively straightforward, paid prioritization and the general conduct standard are more amorphous topics.”
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