FCC vote kicks off a battle over regulation of the internet; tech industry pushes back

Associated Press

NEW YORK — A federal agency voted to kick off the repeal of “net neutrality” rules designed to keep broadband providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from interfering with the internet.

It’s the latest change that the Federal Communications Commission has made to ease regulation of the phone, broadcast and cable industries.

Undoing the net neutrality rules — which, for instance, block providers from favoring their own apps and services over those of competitors like Netflix — may be the biggest battle yet triggered by FCC chairman Ajit Pai. The tech industry — which sees net neutrality as necessary to innovation and for reaching web companies’ customers — is already pushing back by lobbying politicians, sending letters of protest to the agency and starting to rally supporters.

The FCC’s three commissioners voted 2-1, with the lone Democrat opposed, to start a process aimed at unwinding the net neutrality rules. It will be months before final rules are up for a vote.

Under Mr. Pai’s proposal the agency will consider lifting bans on blocking web traffic, and against building “fast lanes” that favor those willing to pay more for faster service. The agency also will consider whether to keep a ban against impairing or degrading web traffic, known as throttling.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, applauded the action. “We finally have an FCC chairman who recognizes that we live in a new era — an era of smartphones and laptops and other mobile devices — a chairman who believes that innovation, ingenuity, growth, and job creation aren’t dirty words to be stifled with unnecessary red tape,” Mr. McConnell said in an emailed statement. Democrats objected. “Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai began the wrecking process to overturn net neutrality, demonstrating that he is on the wrong side of history, consumers and the public interest,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo of California, a Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees the FCC. “The FCC begins the process to remove rules that advance competition, innovation, small businesses and entrepreneurs.”

Mr. Pai often argues that net neutrality rules are heavy handed and discourage broadband investment. His goal, he says, is to encourage companies to build out their wired and wireless broadband networks and draw more Americans online.

For support, Mr. Pai turns to a study by Hal Singer, a net neutrality critic and economist who has worked as a telecom-industry consultant. Mr. Singer found that such infrastructure investment by network companies has declined 5.6 percent in 2016 from 2014. The telecom trade group USTelecom likewise says broadband investment is falling in the aftermath of the net neutrality rules.

Big broadband companies say they can be trusted to do what’s right for their customers. Net neutrality advocates cry foul; Free Press, an advocacy group that supports net neutrality, has a list of what it calls net neutrality violations going back more than a decade.

The rules changes are expected to pass the FCC, and are likely to be challenged in federal court.