From: Arzak Khan <direc...@ipop.org.pk> Net Neutrality Forecast: Cloudy
It should come as a surprise to no one that the arrival of a new conservative Republican administration means a reordering of telecommunications policy — away from regulation, and towards a freer hand for the semi-monopolists who control our network access. Now that this change is taking concrete form, it’s worth taking a closer look at. Ajit Pai, who is already a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission (and before that was a lawyer for Verizon), will be the new FCC chairman (The Washington Post). Critics say Pai was a staunch opponent of his predecessor Tom Wheeler’s moves to make network neutrality the law, and we should expect the FCC to begin unravelling that initiative — making it easier for Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and other network providers to create different tiers of internet access and to bundle content channels that they control with the basic network services they provide (Motherboard). Also in the offing: a loosening of privacy rules and less support for municipal broadband initiatives. Pai’s defenders, like Larry Downes (Forbes), say he’s being smeared — he supports the basic concept of net neutrality but opposes Obama-era overreach. The industry is welcoming Pai’s ascent and promises a wave of innovation and new products in the short run. In the long run? Your bills could rise, and already-meager service-provider choices could narrow. But the real test of any net-neutrality outcome is how open the internet remains to newcomers, new companies, and new ideas.
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