So long, net neutrality: FCC unveils repeal plan

New rules could allow ISPs to prioritize data

The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month to repeal the net neutrality rules championed by President Obama, a move that will likely change how we use the Internet.

New proposed regulations are being circulated among the commission, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Tuesday. The rules, on which the commission will vote at its Dec. 14 meeting, would replace current Open Internet or net neutrality rules, which prevented Internet service providers from blocking or throttling legal content users sought to access, as well as preventing ISPs from accepting payment to prioritize some data.

Pai has criticized the regulations as heavyhanded and an overreach of the FCC’s power that stifled ISP investment in network expansion and faster broadband connections.

Released from the current regulations with more business-friendly rules, ISPs could more freely experiment with new services for customers and expand their networks, Pai said.

“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the Internet,” Pai said in a statement. “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.”

Passage of the rules would be seen as a victory for big telecom and cable companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. More than 94.5 million U.S. homes subscribe to broadband service, according to Leichtman Research Group.

But consumer advocates and Internet companies including Facebook, Google and Netflix are concerned that telecom and cable companies could give preferential benefit to their own services and content.

“Gutting net neutrality will have a devastating effect on free speech online,” Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. “Without it, gateway corporations like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T will have too much power to mess with the free flow of information.”

As a commissioner, Pai voted against the Obama-supported rules in 2015 when Democrat Tom Wheeler was chairman. New rules would restore a “light-touch regulatory approach,” said Pai, a Republican appointed by President Trump.

The new regulations will give ISPs more leeway in their business practices than the rules against prioritizing some content over other content, possibly for payment. Also jettisoned is an Internet conduct standard meant to prevent ISPs from unreasonable interference with consumers’ access to destinations on the Net.

Ajit Pai