Mr. President: Time to Take the Wheel on Net Neutrality
In 2007, President Obama campaigned on the promise that he would “take a back seat to no one” in his support of Network Neutrality, the principle that stops Internet service providers from deciding which websites load fast, slow, or not at all. But if the press reports this week are accurate, the President and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski are preparing to exit the back seat and jump out of the car altogether.
Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC, due to some terrible decisions made during the Bush administration, no longer has the authority to regulate broadband providers. That means the FCC can’t pass Network Neutrality rules, or even implement much of its National Broadband Plan, including programs to increase Internet adoption in poorer communities.
Conservatives and broadband providers hailed this decision as the end of Network Neutrality. But the story is not quite so simple. The truth is that the FCC still has the power to reverse the rejected reasoning of the Bush years, to re-establish its legal footing, and to protect the public interest.
