FCC Republican Pushes Against Idea Of Net Neutrality Revival

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr, a longtime opponent of net neutrality rules, blasted the idea of bringing back regulations now that Democrats have a majority at the agency again. He said that recent Supreme Court law makes clear that a net neutrality revival would not survive legal challenges, meaning that any effort to craft rules would sap time from a FCC that should be focused elsewhere. "If people are interested, whether in Congress or here, in finding a way to put bright-line rules in place that avoid all the collateral damaging consequences that come from utility-style regulation of the internet, then those are conversations that should take place," he said. "But opening the door to going back down this path of utility regulation of the internet would be a serious mistake." Andrew Schwartzman, senior counselor for the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said, "The is clearly part of a well-designed plan to undermine the effort to restore Title II authority over broadband, timed to coincide with the arrival of [new FCC] Commissioner [Anna] Gomez as a likely third vote for Title II." Schwartzman noted that there are many reasons why the new major questions doctrine is inapplicable to this issue: "Indeed, in the 2005 Brand X case, not one member of the Supreme Court raised any doubt whether Congress intended to give authority to the FCC to consider the issue. The question there was only whether this power was in Title I or Title II of the Communications Act."