FCC/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/NET NEUTRALITY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Over just two days this week, the Trump administration has both sued AT&T Inc. to block its planned takeover of Time Warner Inc. and proposed allowing internet-service providers—like AT&T—to form closer alliances with content companies, like Time Warner.
The two government moves seem to go in opposite directions, on the one hand restricting a major telecommunications merger and on the other giving internet providers broad new powers to shape their customers’ online experiences.
But the actions reveal one consistency, and what might be viewed as an emerging Trump administration regulatory philosophy: Instead of new bright-line rules, such as those put in place under the Obama administration, it is stressing the enforcement of longstanding laws and regulations…When it comes to internet policing, the FCC will ease back on its rules and turn a measure of oversight authority to the antitrust cop, the Federal Trade Commission, a deliberate action outlined Tuesday [11-21-17] by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai…
In the financial sector, Mr. Trump’s regulatory team has launched a review of stricter rules adopted after the 2008 bailouts. In general, officials say they want to recalibrate standards governing bank lending and other areas without scrapping them entirely.”
-John D. McKinnon, “Trump Takeaway on Tech: Enforcement Over Regulation,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 22, 2017 10:15am