Two Paths to Restore Net Neutrality
Too Long; Didn't Read
At the end of 2017, the FCC voted to eliminate its net neutrality rules, abdicating the Commission’s longstanding role as a bulwark against Internet service provider misbehavior. Contrary to what FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would have you believe, this isn’t a return to the way things were before 2015; rather, for the first time in decades, the FCC will no longer attempt to prevent ISPs from unilaterally blocking access to websites at their whim. This is certainly a grim outcome, but it is not the end of the debate. Pai’s authority to upend how the Internet functions is far from absolute. Federal courts and Congress have the right to reject what Pai has done, and net neutrality advocates will shift their focus to those bodies in the coming months. Restoring net neutrality will not be an easy task, but we at least know the path we’ll have to take to get there.