A Victory for an Unfettered Internet

Toward the end of 2017 the Federal Communications Commission
voted 3-2 in favor of approving Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to
repeal the President Obama's "net neutrality" rules which
reclassified internet service providers as common carriers
under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.
This act prohibits "any unjust or unreasonable discrimination
in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities,
or services." Then-FCC Chairman and Obama ally Tom
Wheeler greased the wheels to ensure net neutrality's
establishment and implementation, which gave the FCC
the position and powers of political gatekeeper, as this
regulation prohibited broadband providers from blocking,
throttling and favoring content. This Mr. Wheeler craftily
intended to help large content providers like Google, Yahoo,
and Netflix gain leverage and undue advantage against cable
companies, with application and enforcement of the rules
depending on politics (whose side a content provider would
be on would greatly determine how it would thus be treated).

Bans on throttling content may be popular in some circles,
but the regulations have not made at all clear what the FCC
would or would not allow, thus throttling investment.
Investors are, of course, uncomfortable with uncertainty
regarding an investment opportunity. The new rules as
presented by Mr. Pai would require that broadband providers
must disclose discriminatory practices, obliging cable
companies to be transparent if they throttle content when
their users reach a data cap or speed up live programming.
Consumers can then choose broadband providers and their
plans with this information, with the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) having the authority to play cop, being on the lookout
for predatory and monopolistic behavior, just as it had
before the Obama-Wheeler power gambit.

Furthermore, Rolling back net neutrality will aid growth in content,
as producers and consumers of content will reap the benefits of
increased investment in improved wireless and fiber technology;
they will be able to affordably acquire more speed and efficiency.
In addition, consumers will also benefit from the breakup of the
cable monopoly through customizing "bundles" like Hulu
which would cost less to stream broadcasts, as well as from new
distribution options, which could have been barred by so-called
net neutrality.

Getting back to Google, they have been beating the drum for net
neutrality without actually practicing it; while Google claims to
remain "committed to the net neutrality policies" the firm utilizes
certain algorithms to prioritize and discriminate against content,
undercutting some of their competitors as they go. Where, pray tell,
is Google's transparency regarding its policies and practices?
Once again we see the old ploy of one or more large corporate
entities supporting regulation which would at worst cause very
minor inconvenience for these big boys while greatly hampering
their smaller competitors who do not have the economic wherewithal
to deal with the aforementioned red tape.

Chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC has taken a truly neutral position
on that vast online marketplace that is the internet, guaranteeing its
freedom for buyers and sellers to come together to meet their respective
needs without unnecessary meddling by the federal government.
Mr. Pai and his agency have faith and trust in the people, unlike the
liberals who supported this Obama era sham that has now thankfully
been replaced.


MEM