PAI’S NET NEUTRALITY PLAN: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday revealed his plans for rolling back net neutrality, one of the most controversial items up for consideration at the agency.
During a speech at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Pai said he plans to hand regulatory jurisdiction of broadband providers back to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an agency that critics argue is less prepared to handle them.
Originally passed under Democrat Tom Wheeler’s chairmanship, the net neutrality rules — more formally referred to as the Open Internet Order of 2015 — set restrictions on internet service providers (ISPs) prioritizing certain kinds of web traffic and throttling others. The rules were broadly aimed at establishing a level playing field for companies on the internet.
Broadband companies quickly praised Pai’s proposal.
“We applaud FCC Chairman Pai’s initiative to remove this stifling regulatory cloud over the internet,” AT&T said in a blog post. “Businesses large and small will have a clearer path to invest more in our nation’s broadband infrastructure under Chairman Pai’s leadership.”
The company said that despite the proposed changes, AT&T “continues to support the fundamental tenets of net neutrality.”
Broadband provider Charter Communications also expressed support for net neutrality principles.
“Charter’s support for an open internet is an integral part of our commitment to deliver a superior broadband experience to our customers,” Charter CEO Thomas Rutledge said. “That will never change.”
Notably, Pai did not once utter the phrase “net neutrality” during his remarks, opting to refer to the principles as the “open internet.”
Telecommunications companies and Republicans at the FCC have argued that net neutrality is an example of the government overstepping its boundaries with onerous regulations that stifle broadband innovation and investment.
But consumer groups that backed the net neutrality rules are outraged, and many have been mobilizing since Pai’s expected changes were reported earlier in April.
“By attacking net neutrality Ajit Pai is potentially opening the floodgates for widespread internet censorship by ISPs,” Evan Greer, campaign director at Fight for the Future, said. “Hell hath no fury like the internet scorned,” Greer continued, noting that past attempts to regulate the internet in favor of industry interests had led to widespread public backlash.
“Chairman Pai should expect a tsunami of resistance from Americans defending net neutrality,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
Read more here.
RYAN BACKS PAI: Republicans in Congress also expressed their support for Pai’s plan, capped by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “Chairman Pai’s announcement that the FCC will roll back these regulations is welcome news,” Ryan said in a statement. “Congress is committed to working with the Trump administration to enact policies that protect consumers and ensure Americans have access to a free and open internet.”
Read more here.
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PAI WILL BRIEF LAWMAKERS ON THE PLAN: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai will travel to Capitol Hill on Friday to brief House members in the wake of his announcement that the FCC will be launching a campaign to dismantle net neutrality. Pai will hold a bipartisan briefing for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a panel spokesman said.
Read more here.
DEM COMMISH BLASTS PROPOSAL: Mignon Clyburn, the sole Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, blasted the agency’s chairman for launching an attack on net neutrality. Clyburn blamed Chairman Ajit Pai and other Republicans for wanting to repeal the rules, saying that it will result in a regulatory vacuum over internet service providers.
“They’re willing to dismantle a carefully-struck balance that has served us well, and grant the wishes of a handful of broadband providers that soon will have the right to police themselves when it comes to consumer rights,” she told reporters outside the capitol on Wednesday.
Read more here.
STARTUPS SPEAK OUT: A group of more than 800 tech startups is urging Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai not to go forward with his plan to dismantle net neutrality.
In a letter sent Wednesday morning, the coalition — led by tech groups Y Combinator, Techstars and Engine — said it is “deeply concerned” about the reports that Pai is planning to repeal the FCC’s net neutrality rules, which prohibit internet service providers from favoring or discriminating against web traffic to certain sites.
“Without net neutrality, the incumbents who provide access to the Internet would be able to pick winners or losers in the market,” the letter reads.
TRUMP TAX PLAN TAKEAWAYS: The White House released its tax reform plan today. Trump’s sweeping proposal would get rid of most deductions and simplify the tax system, as well as lower rates for top earners and businesses. Noticeably absent from the plan was a controversial border-adjustment tax. Technology interests have been supportive of the measures so far. The Information Technology Industry Council said that they “appreciate” the plan in a statement, and IBM said that they “welcome” the plan and that they “look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to enact meaningful tax reform.”
TECH PRESSES TRUMP ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Oil giants and a group of utilities and tech companies are pushing President Trump to stay in the Paris climate deal.
In a letter sent to Trump on Wednesday, the firms said the deal benefits U.S. companies by putting them on an even playing field with foreign competitors, creates jobs through clean energy work and minimizes the risks climate change poses to them.
“We believe that as other countries invest in advanced technologies and move forward with the Paris agreement, the United States can best exercise global leadership and advance U.S. interests by remaining a full partner in this vital global effort,” the companies wrote.
The signatories included Google, Microsoft, Shell and BP.
Read more here.
CRUZ LOOKS TO SPACE: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at a hearing on Wednesday called for expanding commercial investment in the space industry.
“With our sight set on the heavens, which President Kennedy referred to as ‘the new frontier,’ it is only fitting that the nation born on the last frontier should continue to lead the way in the new frontier,” Cruz said at a hearing of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, which he chairs.
“America must expand commerce and ultimately settlement into space. And we must do it first.”
Read more here.
ON TAP:
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will deliver remarks at the DATA Act breakfast panel tomorrow at 7:45 a.m.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) will speak at the Progressive Policy Institute & Technology Policy Institute’s event on global trade at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow.
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