Net Neutrality Expires, But Not The Fight

Media outlets have raised the alarm about the repeal of net neutrality, which took effect on Monday.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai initially introduced the Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which repeals the Obama-era Open Internet Order net-neutrality rules. It was passed by a vote of the FCC in December.

The “internet as we know it may not exist,” CNET said on Monday as the repeal took effect.

“Net neutrality is officially dead today, but the fight to revive it lives on, ” TechCrunch declared.

The “end of the Internet as we know it,” read the main headline on CNN.com after December’s vote.

According to the National Review, net neutrality imposed heavy regulations on Internet-service providers, classifying them as public utilities. Critics said that the rules choked companies like popular streaming services by regulating how they present content to consumers. Those pushing for the rules argued that control of the Internet should not be left to the whims of private companies.

Pai has called the Obama-era rules “heavy-handed” and has remained firm in his conviction that less regulation is the best path to a more free and open Internet.

“Following today’s vote, Americans will still be able to access the websites they want to visit. They will still be able to enjoy the services they want to enjoy,” Pai said in December. “There will still be cops on the beat guarding a free and open internet. This is the way things were prior to 2015, and this is the way they will be once again.”