Plan to Roll Back Internet Regulations a Boon for Business and Innovation: New at Reason

Libertarians, rejoice, writes Andrea O’Sullivan—a U.S. regulator took the bold step of deciding that his office simply doesn’t have the jurisdiction to control major parts of the internet. Last Wednesday, the free market-friendly Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled his plan to roll back the FCC’s controversial 2015 Open Internet Order (OIO), which granted the telecommunication regulator expansive discretionary authority over how Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can operate and compete.

Pai’s plan is a real win for those who believe businesses should not need government permission before innovating, O’Sullivan suggests.

But don’t expect “net neutrality” hardliners to accept this proposal without a major fight, she warns. Their reactions last week were predictably apoplectic. Yet hysterical critics have a hard time answering exactly how the internet was able to become the engine of innovation that it is today without the expansive FCC controls only granted through the OIO in 2015.

View this article.