Broadband Expansion Requires Net Neutrality Law
By Allie X
The unresolved issue of net neutrality, or how to best ensure a free and open internet, deserves clarification. The idea that online users can access websites without being blocked unfairly by ISPs (internet service providers) is one that nearly everyone backs. But policies enacted in the name of net neutrality have caused challenges for internet companies and stymie infrastructure investment.
Though the internet was neutral, open, and expanding, Obama appointee Tom Wheeler over at the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) decided to flip perfectly good policy on its head in 2015 and saddle the internet with public utility regulations taken straight out of the Depression Era. Title II of the Communications Act, created in the 1930s, belabors efforts of internet companies to invest in their networks and innovate products and services for their customers.
Thankfully, the current FCC is working to take steps to undo the harm and reverse Title II, but we need a long-term solution.
We need Congress to end this cycle of regulatory chaos that is causing more harm than good to a nation trying to expand its digital networks and online opportunities to more communities. It’s time for pro-consumer legislation that treats all members of the internet ecosystem equally yet enables the internet to evolve and reach even more citizens of PA without heavy regulations.
Broadband Expansion Requires Net Neutrality Law
I remember when these stories broke back then, that we had yet one more case of the Left manipulating the language and turning a meaning on its head–“net neutrality” as the by-word for “State control of the Internet”.