DALLAS - The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) commends FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for undertaking the important work of setting Internet policy back on its well-established framework of light touch federal regulation by overturning the Obama administration’s ill-advised reclassification of broadband under Title II.
“Chairman Pai has correctly identified the Title II reclassification as a political move by the Obama administration designed to activate its base after a devastating mid-term election defeat,” said Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation. “In the course of doing so, the Obama administration destroyed any pretense of independence at the FCC while subjecting one of our most innovative industries to the caprice and mischief of federal regulators endowed with almost limitless regulatory powers under Title II. Undoing this devastating mistake should be a top priority for the new administration, and we’re delighted that Chairman Pai agrees.”
“It’s also important to note that Chairman Pai clearly anticipates the tsunami of fake news and dishonest spin that will certainly come from those special interests who pushed Title II as a way of gaining disproportionate influence over the development of an industry that is still in its infancy," said Giovanetti.
"How the broadband industry develops should be determined by all the players acting creatively within a free-market, since free markets are how we get the best outcomes for both consumers and investors," he said.
"We don’t want the adolescence of the Internet to be distorted by a small group of stakeholders who have gained disproportionate influence through political connections and heavy handed federal regulation," he said. "A return to light tough regulation is precisely what we need, and the sooner the better.”
The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is an independent, nonprofit public policy organization based in Dallas. IPI president Tom Giovanetti is available for comment by contacting Erin Humiston at erin@ipi.org.
--###--