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04/20/2017

Path forward on net neutrality complicated by courts, Congress

There are no easy answers when it comes to net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai recently started down the thorny road of trying to undo the 2015 Open Internet Order, which reclassified fixed and wireless broadband as a telecommunications service rather than an information service under Title II of the Communications Act. Because telecommunications services are subject to more stringent regulation than information services, the reclassification gave the FCC legal authority to impose its net neutrality rules.

Pai's first steps on the issue have been a series of meetings with various industry groups, some of whom support repeal of the Open Internet Order and others that would like to see it preserved.

For Pai's part, he has long been a vocal critic of the order. In 2015, he voted against its adoption and predicted its ultimate downfall, saying at the time: "I don't know whether this plan will be vacated by a court, reversed by Congress, or overturned by a future commission. But I do believe that its days are numbered."

In December 2016, after it was clear Republicans would soon control both the White House and Congress, Pai said he was "more confident than ever" that order would soon be undone.

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