Enough web rules already, foes of net neutrality argue

People who cheered the Federal Communications Commission’s move to reject Obama-era net neutrality rules last week say the government already has all the power it needs to regulate internet service without more regulations.

And that power lies in the courts, as evidenced by the Justice Department lawsuit to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner, also announced last week. Antitrust law can keep the internet free, they say.

“There’s no reason for anyone to panic,” said Randolph May of the Free State Foundation, which calls for limited government. “The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will be able to more than adequately perform that oversight function. The case that has been filed is a good example.”

Critics aren’t convinced and have promised to mount an aggressive campaign against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s decision to seek the elimination of the net neutrality rules.

“Antitrust cannot replace the value of open internet rules,” said Gene Kimmelman, the president and CEO of the policy group Public Knowledge.

Internet service providers such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon didn’t like the way the FCC imposed its open-internet rules, concerned that the broad power the agency adopted to regulate broadband service could be used to justify future regulation, including how much the companies charge for access.

Those companies lobbied for a move away from the rules established by a Democratic-run FCC and found a champion in Republican Pai, who said his draft order would restore freedom and eliminate “heavy-handed” regulations from the internet, requiring service providers to only be “transparent.”

Pai also said he would turn over enforcement of these policies to the FTC to “police ISPs, protect consumers and promote competition, just as it did before 2015.”

Pai acknowledged in an interview with Fox News that the free market may allow companies to charge extra for fast Internet.

“In some cases, you can imagine that kind of arrangement being procompetitive, being good for startups and consumers. And in other cases it might not be so worthwhile. And that’s exactly why the FTC is the better agency to investigate it,” he said.