3/08/2017

FCC/NET NEUTRALITY: “Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai defended his partial rollback of Obama-era internet privacy rules at a hearing Wednesday [3-8-17], saying consumers would remain protected by federal law.
But Democrats warned his efforts to scale back privacy and net neutrality rules could lead to consumer harm.
‘At the end of the day the FCC has the responsibility to put the public interest ahead of special interests,’ said Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, the Commerce Committee’s top Democrat. ‘Congress expects the commission to uphold the laws it has passed and enforce the regulations properly adopted by the agency.’
Mr. Pai last month signaled that the agency would move to suspend parts of the FCC’s privacy rule for internet service providers—mainly cable such as Comcast Corp. and wireless firms such as Verizon Communications Inc. Those firms have criticized the FCC rule as unfair because it treats them differently, and somewhat more strictly, than other online firms such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit and Facebook Inc. Those companies are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.”

-John D. Mckinnon, “New FCC Chairman Defends Changes to Internet Privacy Rules,” The Wall Street Journal online, March 8, 2017