Due to the proliferation of glowing news reports and commentaries concerning the innocuous-sounding “net neutrality” rules, we thought it necessary to shine some light on more critical opinions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) action.
Background
With a 3-2 vote on Thursday, February 26, the FCC commission voted to classify broadband internet as a public utility and assert regulatory control over it as such, under the banner of “net neutrality” the principle that all information and services should have equal access to the internet and protecting internet freedom.
The two dissenting FCC commissioners were Republicans Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly—vocal critics of the FCC’s new rules, who said, according to The Guardian, that “once they are published people will realize that they will stifle innovation and lead to taxes and increased rates for the public.”
Making Up the Rules as They Go
One of the most glaring flaws of the FCC’s decision, is that these regulatory rules for the internet that were approved have not even been released to the public. According to The Guardian, on Friday the FCC was still finalizing its documentation for publication—which is an unknown date with no publication timeline given as of yet.
The Register reports that Pai and O’Rielly also revealed that there had been a number of revised versions in the 12 to 24 hours leading up to the vote, with changes being made all the way up to the vote.
“But that’s not all,” writes The Register. “Both commissioners expect changes to be made to the document after it has been formally approved by them, with the “OGC” – office of general counsel – given extraordinary leeway to edit and revise the rules even following formal approval.”
The Reality of Net Neutrality
Though the FCC’s vote was backed by a mob of internet activists, techies, and the Obama administration, and is being herald nationwide as a historic move, it wasn’t an entirely popular vote. Following are a few of the criticisms of FCC regulation and “net neutrality” voiced by dissenters:
1) It’s anti-economic
“But there is no question of the potential for slowing decision-making and inhibiting innovation in a fast-moving segment of the economy if you give the FCC power to approve or disapprove specific pricing, service contract terms and conditions and even the actual structure of product and service offerings (all powers conferred upon the FCC under Title II whether it ultimately uses them or not).”
– Howard Homonoff, Forbes
2) It will limit competition
“Sooner or later, under FCC regulation of the Internet, there will be “regulatory capture”—large established firms exploiting regulations to suppress the emergence of small, creative startups. Because it will be impossible for the FCC to keep close tabs on thousands of Internet companies, they will find it expedient to limit the number of participants, finding it easier to oversee a few large corporations than countless smaller ones.”
– Mark Hendrickson, Forbes
3) It’s going to slow down innovation
“In seeking to make the Internet more “fair and open,” the FCC’s circa-1934 utility laws ban practices, agreements and exchanges of information which every other segment of our economy uses to make better, cheaper, more innovative and commercially sustainable offerings for consumers and society. Instead of free actors in the marketplace making decisions on their own, the FCC now is in charge, even though it can’t keep its own website from crashing. Say goodbye to private investment and permission-less innovation, especially the stuff on the margins.”
– Mike Wendy, Media Freedom
By the people, for the people?
But perhaps the most detrimental effect of “net neutrality” and FCC internet regulation is the most glaringly obvious—that once control of broadband internet falls into the government’s hands, there will be no barrier to stop them from extending their control to its content as well.
Pai said it best in his oral dissent: “The Commission’s decision to adopt President Obama’s plan marks a monumental shift toward government control of the Internet. It gives the FCC the power to micromanage virtually every aspect of how the Internet works. It’s an overreach that will let a Washington bureaucracy, and not the American people, decide the future of the online world.”
To learn more about this ongoing issue, we recommend the following resources:
FCC commissioners’ oral dissents:
- Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Michael O’Rielly
- Oral Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Ajit Pai
- Summery of FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s Oral Statement Dissenting from the FCC’s Decision to Adopt President Obama’s Plan to Regulate the Internet
Story Sources (in order of appearance):
- The Guardian—Republicans strike back: FCC member invokes Star Wars in net neutrality fight
- The Register—Net neutrality secrecy: No one knows what the FCC approved (BUT Google has a good idea)
- Forbes—Al Franken, Ted Cruz and Net Neutrality Rights and Wrongs
- Forbes—The Sad Reality Of Net Neutrality
- Media Freedom—Statement: Today’s FCC Actions Create ObamaNet, and Americans Will Suffer for It
Additional Recommended Links for Further Reading:
Chaninat and Leeds’ team of business and family attorneys specialize in legal consulting and offering Thailand legal opinions for a full range of practice areas.
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