FCC to stop Title II based Net Neutrality Internet regulation June 11

May 10, 2018
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will enact its “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” June 11, it announced today. The order, which will roll back the Title II based “Net Neutrality” regulation of Internet service provision enacted during the Obama Administration under former FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler, was approved December 14, 2017 by a 3-2 vote among FCC commissioners along party lines.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will enact its “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” June 11, it announced today. The order, which will roll back the Title II based “Net Neutrality” regulation of Internet service provision enacted during the Obama Administration under former FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler, was approved December 14, 2017 by a 3-2 vote among FCC commissioners along party lines.

Current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was among the dissenting voices within Wheeler’s FCC at the time the previous policy took effect. He expressed pleasure at the return to previous Internet oversight.

“I strongly support a free and open Internet. And that’s exactly what we’ve had for decades, starting in the Clinton Administration. The Internet wasn’t broken in 2015, when the prior FCC buckled to political pressure and imposed heavy-handed Title II rules on the Internet economy. It doesn’t make sense to apply outdated rules from 1934 to the Internet, but that’s exactly what the prior Administration did,” said Chairman Pai via an FCC press statement.

“Now, on June 11, these unnecessary and harmful Internet regulations will be repealed and the bipartisan, light-touch approach that served the online world well for nearly 20 years will be restored,” he continued. “The Federal Trade Commission will once again be empowered to target any unfair or deceptive business practices of Internet service providers and to protect American’s broadband privacy. Armed with our strengthened transparency rule, we look forward to working closely with the FTC to safeguard a free and open Internet.”

The FCC said the delay between December 14 and June 11 in part reflects its desire to tie the effective date of the Order to the approval of a new transparency rule by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Paperwork Reduction Act mandates a review for any new regulation that requires industry to provide the government with information, the FCC explained. With the OMB having approved the transparency rule on May 2, the June 11 date enables providers time to comply with the transparency requirement.

The debate around Net Neutrality won’t end June 11, however. Several states have passed their own Internet regulation procedures along the lines of the Wheeler initiative. Democrats on Capital Hill also have prepared legislation in hopes for a similar outcome in Congress.

Photo 11957446 © Haveseen | Dreamstime.com
Photo 112994670 © Daniil Peshkov | Dreamstime.com
Photo 120265330 © Sarinya Pinngam | Dreamstime.com