FCC 'Conspiring' With Telecoms to Put Net Neutrality Roll-Back in Fast Lane

Now that President Donald Trump and the Republican party have gutted internet privacy protections, their next order of business is to fast-track repeal of groundbreaking net neutrality rules that proponents say ensure “access to social, political, and economic empowerment for all.”

“It’s clear Pai thinks his real constituents are Comcast and Verizon, not the American people.”
—Craig Aaron, Free Press

That’s according to sources who were briefed on a meeting this week between Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Ajit Pai and major telecommunications trade groups and spoke to news outlets about what they heard.

They said Pai “is moving quickly to replace the Obama administration’s landmark net neutrality rules and wants internet service providers to voluntarily agree to maintain an open internet,” Reuters reported.

The wire service continued:

This attack is hardly unexpected. “Pai has been an outspoken foe of net neutrality,” John Nichols wrote last month at The Nation, describing the doctrine as “the First Amendment of the internet that guarantees the free flow of information without censorship or corporate favoritism. With Trump’s backing, and that of a Congress whose Republican leaders never say no to telecom giants, Pai will have an FCC majority and plenty of leeway to go after net neutrality. Its ‘days are numbered,’ he says.”

Responding to this week’s reports, Free Press president and CEO Craig Aaron accused Pai of “conspiring with cable and phone lobbyists to take away fundamental safeguards that keep the internet open and free.”

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