Reversing the Net Neutrality power grab

The Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) recent vote to begin the process of undoing an Obama-era power grab is the right solution for putting consumers—not lobbyists and lawmakers—in the innovation driver’s seat. On May 18, the FCC voted to begin the process of rolling back a 2015 policy in which the FCC decided it possesses the legal authority under the Telecommunications Act of 1934 to regulate internet service providers (ISPs) using rules intended for phone companies. The rules, commonly referred to as “net neutrality,” were initiated by former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who served under President Obama.

The May vote doesn’t repeal the rules, but it does put the FCC on the path toward reform. Thanks to the recent vote, the FCC will solicit comments from the public and consider experts’ advice before crafting a final rule, which should occur later in 2017. By getting government out of the business of telling ISPs how to run their servers, current FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is working hard to undo net neutrality, putting consumers back in charge of how the internet—and the businesses responsible for building and maintaining the countless millions of internet connections and switches powering the internet—should operate.

Through the net-neutrality rules, in order to better control the internet, the FCC put five unelected government regulators between consumers and internet service providers, drastically expanding the FCC’s power. By regulating the internet as though it is a utility, such as an electric company or a water company, the FCC inserted itself into the middle of the data transactions made between every recipient and sender, of every bit and byte.

The fight over net neutrality was never about digital egalitarianism, although that’s what its advocates continue to claim. Its purpose was to restrict consumers’ choices and prohibit something called “paid prioritization,” which hurts consumers in the name of helping them.

Read more at American Conservative