There's hope yet. It appears that what irks Pai most is not to enforce net
neutrality per se, but to enforce "transparency" in billing.
Hopefully, the FCC isn't foolish enough to repeal neutrality. The hate mail
that would generate would be huge. Even if, when Wheeler classified the
Internet under Title II, there were a few knee-jerk paranoids who had visions
of "black helicopters" swooping down in their neighborhood, to monitor what web
sites they were browsing.
Bert
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https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/01/fcc-chair-ajit-pai-wont-say-whether-hell-enforce-net-neutrality-rules/
Ajit Pai on net neutrality: “I favor an open Internet and I oppose Title II”
New FCC chairman won't say whether he'll enforce net neutrality rules.
Jon Brodkin - 1/31/2017, 1:49 PM
Ajit Pai today presided over his first Federal Communications Commission
meeting since being named chairman by President Donald Trump, and he promised
that the FCC will eliminate regulations under his leadership.
He also said that consumer protection and enforcement are important priorities
for the commission—but he wouldn't comment about whether he'll enforce the
existing net neutrality rules.
In a press conference after the meeting, Pai was asked several times about net
neutrality. While Pai has repeatedly made it clear that he opposes the current
rules and wants to overturn them, he has not said whether the commission will
continue to enforce all of the rules while they are still in place.
When asked by a reporter if the agency will continue to enforce the rules, Pai
pointed out that he and fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly already
said they wouldn't punish small ISPs for violations of the net neutrality
order's "enhanced transparency" rules. The FCC is finalizing an order that will
exempt ISPs with 250,000 or fewer subscribers from those truth-in-billing rules
and will not enforce them against the small ISPs while they're still in place.
But for now, Pai is not saying whether the commission will continue to enforce
the core net neutrality rules that prohibit Internet providers from blocking or
throttling traffic or giving priority to Web services in exchange for payment.
"Beyond that [transparency rule exemption for small ISPs], I’m not going to
comment on what steps we may or may not take on enforcement," Pai said in
response to a reporter's question.
Pai was asked the question by two other reporters and continued to decline
comment. "Again, we haven’t made any determinations at this time," Pai said. "I
think the issue is pretty simple. I favor a free and open Internet and I oppose
Title II. That's pretty much all I can say about that topic."
Under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler, Pai opposed the Title II reclassification
of Internet providers as common carriers and the related imposition of net
neutrality rules. But it isn't clear whether Pai would support any net
neutrality rules, even if they were imposed without the use of Title II. In May
2014, Pai voted against a preliminary version of the rules that did not include
a Title II reclassification and were weaker than the ones ultimately approved
the following year.
When asked today if he intends to reverse the Title II reclassification, Pai
said, "We have not made any determinations at this time." Of course, Pai has
already made his preference to overturn Title II clear, so it may just be a
matter of time before he's ready to make a specific proposal. Congress could
also eliminate the Title II classification of ISPs.
Enforcement still important—for robocalls
Despite not pledging to enforce net neutrality rules, Pai said that
"enforcement is a critical priority for this commission" and that "consumer
protection is an area that I have taken a great interest in." He pointed out
that robocalling is the top source of complaints to the FCC and said he intends
to "find ways to make sure consumers are protected from that scourge."
"More generally, my philosophy on enforcement is simple," Pai said. "You follow
the law, you make a diligent search for the facts, and in your review of the
law and the facts, take the appropriate action that is necessary to protect the
public interest."
The Title II classification of ISPs that Pai wants to eliminate gives the FCC
more enforcement tools, prohibiting "unjust or unreasonable discrimination"
with rates and practices. Under Title II, consumers and competitors can file
FCC complaints against ISPs over prices or policies that may violate that
standard. The Title II reclassification also led to privacy rules protecting
customers of Internet service providers, rules that were opposed by Pai and
could be overturned.
Eliminating regulations
The biggest agenda item at Pai's first meeting today as chair was a 3-0 vote to
eliminate two public inspection file rules. One of the rules required TV and
radio stations to maintain copies of correspondence from viewers and listeners
and make them available to the public; this paperwork was replaced by an online
system that ensures the public still has access to the information.
The other eliminated rule required cable companies to "maintain and allow
public inspection of the location of a cable system’s principal headend." Going
forward, the headend information will instead be available to the FCC, TV
stations, and franchisors upon request. Cable companies can make the
information publicly available in the FCC's online database, but they won't be
required to.
In his press conference, Pai said this vote is just the first step toward his
goal of "modernizing" regulations and "remov[ing] unnecessary or
counterproductive regulations." Pai argues that removing regulations frees up
money for ISPs to invest in building and upgrading networks.
President Trump yesterday signed an executive order directing federal agencies
to get rid of two regulations for every new regulation added. Pai said this
order apparently doesn't apply to independent agencies like the FCC, but said
he still wants to remove "legacy regulations" if they're not necessary to
promote competition and the public interest. FCC regulations should "match the
reality of the modern marketplace," he said.
On Pai's first full day as chairman last week, he said that one of his top
priorities will be closing the digital divide by bringing broadband to all
Americans. Today, he announced the formation of a Broadband Deployment Advisory
Committee that will be open to applications from consumer and community groups,
the communications industry, and federal, state, local, and tribal officials.
The committee will focus on "further reforms to the FCC’s pole attachment
rules; identifying unreasonable regulatory barriers to broadband deployment;
ways to encourage local governments to adopt deployment-friendly policies; and
other reforms within the scope of the Commission’s authority," the FCC said.
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