FCC Boss Celebrates As Net Neutrality Gets An End Date: June 11

Broadband

from the Comcastic dept

Nearly six months after the Trump FCC voted to kill net neutrality protections, we finally have an official date for the formal elimination of the rules. According to an FCC announcement, (pdf) the FCC’s comically and misleadingly-named “Restoring Internet Freedom” order will formally take effect on June 11, eliminating rules that have the bipartisan support of a huge majority of Americans (not to mention many of the people that built the damn internet).

In a statement patting himself on the back for a job well done, FCC boss Ajit Pai simply doubles down on all of the routinely-debunked falsehoods his agency has used to justify the repeal up to this point, including the claim that killing consumer protections and pandering to Comcast somehow lowers prices and protects “free expression”:

“On June 11, we will have a framework in place that encourages innovation and investment in our nation?s networks so that all Americans, no matter where they live, can have access to better, cheaper, and faster Internet access and the jobs, opportunities, and platform for free expression that it provides.”

Of course if you’ve been following the net neutrality fight this claim is laughable. Giving telecom monopolies operating in a broken market unchecked authority to abuse a lack of competition will raise rates and stifle free expression in a myriad of ways. From bogus usage caps and zero rating to interconnection shenanigans (where ISPs use their power to drive up costs for transit and content competitors), these costs and unfair restrictions, sooner or later, will be dropped in the lap of consumers, startups and smaller competitors across the entire internet ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Pai also tries to double down on the claim that next-generation networks are only made possible by gutting oversight of some of the least-liked and least-competitive companies in America. He also tries to float the idea that “special interests” (not an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Americans) are to blame for the massive backlash to his repeal:

“And we will embrace a modern, forward-looking approach that will help the United States lead the world in 5G, the next generation of wireless connectivity. For months, many politicians and special interests have tried to mislead the American people about the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Now everyone will be able to see the truth for themselves.”

Yes, yes we will.

Unfortunately, starting in late June, ISPs, the Pai FCC, and the industry’s dollar-per-hollar consultants are going to try to argue that because the Earth didn’t immediately shatter into a million pieces on June 12 it must mean that the net neutrality rules weren’t important. But anybody expecting ISPs like Comcast to immediately begin behaving badly in the wake of the repeal doesn’t understand how this is going to work.

While there’s certain to be some providers that just can’t help themselves, most large ISPs are going to try and be on their best behavior for a while, even after the rules are repealed.

Why? They’re wisely concerned that the FCC may lose in court, thanks to all of the procedural missteps, half truths and flimsy data belched forth from Pai’s office during the repeal. ISPs are also worried about the fact that more than half the states in the nation are now pursuing their own net neutrality rules (something they maybe should have considered before rushing to kill modest federal rules).

Of course there’s also the looming threat of a future less cash-compromised Congress or FCC coming in and just re-instating the rules during future administrations. There’s also an ongoing effort to reverse the FCC repeal via the Congressional Review Act.

This is why ISPs have been advocating (so far unsuccessfully) for a bogus net neutrality law in Congress.

Pushed by Marsha Blackburn in the House and John Kennedy in the Senate, these bills are being promoted as a “solution” to the longstanding net neutrality debate. But their real intention is far more nefarious: to pass a flimsy, loophole-ridden law designed specifically to pre-empt tougher federal or state laws (and block the FCC from restoring the 2015 rules should they lose in court). In short: they want to make a lack of net neutrality permanent via legislation that…pretends to protect net neutrality (AT&T, Verizon and Comcast lobbyists are nothing if not clever).

As ISP lobbyists nervously try to prevent a return to real net neutrality rules, ISPs will try to be on their best behavior for a while to try to suggest all of the concerns about the repeal were breathless hyperbole. But it’s important to understand, killing net neutrality is just one part of a much broader plan that involves effectively gutting nearly all FTC and FCC oversight of the broken telecom sector. Should that come to pass (and they’re having a hell of a lot of success at the moment), the end result is not going to be subtle.

Filed Under: ajit pai, broadband, competition, fcc, innovation 5g, investment, net neutrality