WASHINGTON – Two of the five commissioners serving on the Federal Communications Commission voted against net neutrality regulations that apply Title II regulation and classify the Internet as a public utility.
Commissioner Ajit Pai was the most vocal of the opposition. Known as a staunch conservative, Pai was appointed by President Obama in 2012.
After the vote, Pai said “Read my lips more taxes are coming.” In addition to that comment, he released a six-page brief outlining his dissent in which he said, “To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, President Obama’s plan to regulate the Internet isn’t the solution to a problem. His plan is the problem.”
More rhetoric came on March 9, when Commissioner Pai put out a press release with a list of organizations and individuals and their statements on Title II adoption. From that document:
From the Internet Society: “[W]e are concerned with the FCC’s decision to base new rules for the modern Internet on decades-old telephone regulations designed for a very different technological era.”
From John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation: “Title II is for setting up monopolies, not tearing them apart. We need competition, not regulation. We need engineers not lawyers.”
From Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and chairman of Wayin: “This is another process for government officials, elected officials, to create unneeded controversy so that they can get both sides of the argument to donate a heck of a lot of money to keep themselves in power, and continue to drive the regulation economy.”
Much of the dissent against Title II as highlighted by Commissioner Pai’s list of statements centers around the economy, free enterprise and the role of government.
These are all classic points of contention going into an election year, and with the Republican primaries heating up in Iowa, net neutrality is poised to join the plethora of issues under public scrutiny.
