Rss@dailykos.com (joan Mccarter) · Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 9:45 pm
The Trump kleptocracy isn't going to stop at the internet—not if Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai has his way. He's ready to give it all over to big telecom.
"I’m optimistic that last month’s election will prove to be an inflection point—and that during the Trump Administration, we will shift from playing defense at the FCC to going on offense," Pai said in a speech [last week] before the Free State Foundation in Washington, DC, said. The commission "need[s] to remove outdated and unnecessary regulations... We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation," he also said.
Pai has consistently opposed consumer protection rules that the FCC's current Democratic majority imposed on ISPs, including the net neutrality order that forbids blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. "On the day that the Title II [net neutrality] Order was adopted, I said that 'I don’t know whether this plan will be vacated by a court, reversed by Congress, or overturned by a future Commission. But I do believe that its days are numbered,'" Pai said. "Today, I am more confident than ever that this prediction will come true. And I’m hopeful that beginning next year, our general regulatory approach will be a more sober one that is guided by evidence, sound economic analysis, and a good dose of humility."
What it won't be guided by is popular opinion, or the facts. There's been no indication at all that net neutrality is hampering investment, innovation, or job creation. In fact, it's what's allowed the internet economy to flourish. One big telecom, Sprint, even supported the reclassification of broadband saying it wasn't going to hurt investment. Year-end financial filings for 2015 from the big companies showed they were doing just fine.
There are a few ways this could go:
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