14 DAY TRIAL // He’s barely been a chairman for a few days and Ajit Pai, the new head of the FCC, is already looking to cut down on the powers of the net neutrality rules currently in effect.
Along with his appointment, many have expressed concerns that the integrity of the net neutrality rules the former FCC chairman struggled to set in place would be shaken. That’s because Ajit Pai is an old member of the FCC team and has expressed on numerous occasions his opposition to such measures.
The first move Pai is making against the rules already set in place is a plan that seeks to pull the curtains over some net neutrality transparency requirements. These have been around since 2015, since the rules became effective. The transparency clause pushes providers to submit information to regulators and consumers regarding data caps, fees, and Internet speeds. Providers with less than 100,000 subscribers were allowed a temporary waiver.
New changes
The transparency requirements were supposed to go into effect this month, after allowing companies some time to adjust to the new rules. Pai now seeks to expand this waiver for another five years, while also expanding it.
If the new plan Pai has come up with is voted by the other members of the commission, service providers with less than 250,000 subscribers won’t have to abide by the transparency requirements set in place by previous regulations.
Pai considers that regulations would have an unreasonable impact on small businesses, as federal regulations often have a disproportionate effect on the smaller companies.
This seems only to be the first step Pai takes towards dismantling the net neutrality protections set in place by the previous head of the FCC. IT professionals have recently expressed great concern regarding the future of the Internet if net neutrality goes away, as they estimate such a move would have a great impact on their businesses and the way the Internet is used in the United States.