Investor's Business Daily
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has
vowed to roll back Obama administration regulations of the internet. |
"Regulations: One of the least appreciated decisions by President Trump has been his appointing Ajit Pai to run the Federal Communications Commission. Pai has long been a skeptic of the FCC's manhandling of industry, and is pushing to get the government out of the internet.
The FCC imposed "net neutrality" rules on the internet in February 2015. The argument made by consumer groups and some industry players was that — without federal intervention — internet service providers would treat traffic differently, charging more for those who seek to get in the fast lane.
Net neutrality would, advocates said, keep the internet "free and open."
But to preserve a "free and open" internet, the FCC had to grant itself sweeping new regulatory powers over it.
Under pressure from President Obama, the commission reclassified the internet as something akin to the old telephone monopoly, which, under a 1934 law, gave the FCC virtually unlimited powers to regulate internet rates, impose fees and require businesses to get approval for a wide range of business decisions.