Resistance Radio: Fighting for Net Neutrality

Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai distributed his 346 page proposal for changing the body of rules to regulate the internet, which critics contend are designed to dismantle net neutrality. The full commission plan to vote on the modifications in mid-December.

Chairman Pai announced last spring that he intended to roll back the regulatory framework adopted in 2015, describing the application of common carrier provisions to the digital realm as heavy handed and economically diminishing.

The FCC received more than 20 million comments in the immediate wake of that announcement, but it’s since been widely reported that many of the comments may not be legitimate. New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman penned an open letter on November 21^st criticizing the FCC for their refusal to cooperate with his investigation of the anomalous entries, which began in May.

Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron told KGNU’s Robin Ryan that Pai’s proposal to shift oversight of the industry to the Federal Trade Commission is too reactionary and opaque to adequately protect consumers from improper practices from service providers like AT&T.

“AT&T’s dream is to find a no man’s land between regulatory agencies”

According to the Violations Tracker at GoodJobsFirst, AT&T has paid $431 million in penalties to settle 162 charges since 2000, roughly 2% of which were cases brought by the FTC.

The full 5 member commission plan to vote on the 346 pages of proposed modifications in mid-December.

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