FCC Unveils Plan To Repeal Its Net Neutrality Rules

Ajit Pai

FCC Chairman AJIT PAI released the draft order of his plan to repeal the net neutrality rule put in place during his predecessor TOM WHEELER's term at the Commission.  The new rules would allow internet service providers to parcel service as they wish, including throttling some customers and favoring those who pay more for access or sign deals to be preferred services, a situation consumer advocates and many website and streaming operators fear will lead major ISPs to discriminate against or block their sites in favor of their own co-owned content or those able to pay more for unfettered access. 

The Commission also proposed raising the cap of 39% of the total national broadcast TV audience for TV ownership purposes and the retention or deletion of the UHF discount -- the treatment of pre-digital-conversion UHF stations as reaching half the audience for purposes of ownership caps.

PAI, introducing the draft order, said, “For almost twenty years, the Internet thrived under the light-touch regulatory approach established by President CLINTON and a Republican Congress.  This bipartisan framework led the private sector to invest $1.5 trillion building communications networks throughout the UNITED STATES.  And it gave us an Internet economy that became the envy of the world.

“But in 2015, the prior FCC bowed to pressure from President OBAMA. On a party-line vote, it imposed heavy-handed, utility-style regulations upon the Internet.  That decision was a mistake.  It’s depressed investment in building and expanding broadband networks and deterred innovation.

“Today, I have shared with my colleagues a draft order that would abandon this failed approach and return to the longstanding consensus that served consumers well for decades. Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the Internet. Instead, the FCC would simply require Internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.

“Additionally, as a result of my proposal, the Federal Trade Commission will once again be able to police ISPs, protect consumers, and promote competition, just as it did before 2015.  Notably, my proposal will put the federal government’s most experienced privacy cop, the FTC, back on the beat to protect consumers’ online privacy.

“Speaking of transparency, when the prior FCC adopted President OBAMA’s heavy-handed
Internet regulations, it refused to let the American people see that plan until weeks after the  FCC’s vote. This time, it’ll be different.  Specifically, I will publicly release my proposal to restore Internet freedom tomorrow -- more than three weeks before the Commission’s DECEMBER 14 vote.

“Working with my colleagues, I look forward to returning to the light-touch, market-based
framework that unleashed the digital revolution and benefited consumers here and around the world.”  

Clyburn: This Is A Pre-Holiday 'News Dump'

The FCC majority's move towards repealing net neutrality and possibly allowing television station owners to exceed the 39% national broadcast audience cap struck Commissioner MIGNON CLYBURN as a pre-holiday "news dump," and in a statement issued TODAY, she let the majority know her disapproval.

“In just two days," CLYBURN wrote, "many of us will join friends and family in celebrating the spirit of Thanksgiving. But as we learned today the FCC majority is about to deliver a cornucopia full of rotten fruit, stale grains, and wilted flowers topped off with a plate full of burnt turkey. Their Destroying Internet Freedom Order would dismantle net neutrality as we know it by giving the green light to our nation’s largest broadband providers to engage in anti-consumer practices, including blocking, slowing down traffic, and paid prioritization of online applications and services.

“Tucked away in this ‘Pre-Holiday News Dump’ is yet another proposal that reportedly seeks to allow even greater media consolidation. Ignoring federal law, it could open the doors to a single company reaching in excess of the 39% national broadcast audience cap set by Congress more than a decade ago.

“This most unwelcome #ThanksgivingFail is simply a giveaway to the nation’s largest communications companies, at the expense of consumers and innovation. It is not only bad public policy but is legally suspect. I hope my colleagues will see the light, and put these drafts where they belong: in the trash heap.”

Rosenworcel: Repeal Is 'Ridiculous And Offensive'

And Commissioner JESSICA ROSENWORCEL called for help from the public to forestall the net neutrality rollback, saying, “Today the FCC circulated its sweeping roll back of our net neutrality rules. Following actions earlier this year to erase consumer privacy protections, the Commission now wants to wipe out court-tested rules and a decade’s work in order to favor cable and telephone companies. This is ridiculous and offensive to the millions of Americans who use the Internet every day.

"Our Internet economy is the envy of the world because it is open to all. This proposal tears at the foundation of that openness. It hands broadband providers the power to decide what voices to amplify, which sites we can visit, what connections we can make, and what communities we create. It throttles access, stalls opportunity, and censors content. It would be a big blunder for a slim majority of the FCC to approve these rules and saddle every Internet user with the cruel consequences.

"I’ve called for public hearings before any change is made to these rules, just as Republican and Democratic Commissions have done in the past. We should go directly to the American public to find out what they think about this proposal before any vote is taken to harm net neutrality.”

Carr: It's 'Freedom'

Commissioner BRENDAN CARR, on the other hand, cheered the development, saying, “Today, the Chairman circulated a draft order that would restore Internet freedom by reversing the Obama-era FCC’s regulatory overreach.  Prior to the FCC’s 2015 decision, consumers and innovators alike benefited from a free and open Internet because the FCC abided by a 20-year, bipartisan consensus that the government should not control or heavily regulate Internet access.  The Internet flourished under this framework.  So I fully support returning to this approach, which will promote innovation and investment for the benefit of all Americans.  I look forward to casting my vote in support of Internet freedom.”

O'Rielly: "The Time Has Come"

Commissioner MICHAEL O'REILLY, like PAI and CARR a deregulation advocate, said, “The time has come to overturn the market disrupting net neutrality and common carrier regulations that sacrificed decades of precedent and the independence of the agency for political ends while doing nothing to protect actual consumers. The Internet was a vibrant place of commerce and public discourse before the rules ever took effect and will continue to flourish after we discard this unnecessary and harmful regulatory overhang. I look forward to reviewing the Chairman’s proposal and working together to ensure that the order contains the necessary legal and analytical foundations, including preemption, to implement sound policy and withstand the challenges that are certain to ensue.

“The National Television Ownership Cap item rightly recognizes what I have consistently stated: that the 39 percent cap and UHF discount are intricately linked. The item we will vote on in December asks important questions on the Commission’s authority to modify or eliminate either. While I have outlined my thoughts on the authority to alter the cap and UHF discount, I support the Commission asking these questions and look forward to seeing the issue be litigated out."

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