Let’s read between the lines on what the FCC boss told us about his net neutrality plans

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai stressed the importance that net neutrality protections come in the form of “light-touch regulation.” And his public notice leaves it up for tech and telecom companies to debate exactly how that might look. [To hell with broadband subscribers’ opinions.]

• What does “light touch” really mean? In short, “light touch” net neutrality could take a lot of forms, but here’s one of them: There’s a world in which the FCC doesn’t have any explicit, preemptive net neutrality rules on its books at all.
• What Pai really thinks about online fast lanes: “These don’t exist, and prior to 2015, they didn’t exist ... so we’re talking about something that’s entirely hypothetical,” he said of such deals. That means, to Chairman Pai, maybe the FCC doesn’t need to ban them outright.
• How Chairman Pai plans to approach public comments: What happens if a majority still thrashes Chairman Pai and his plan to roll back the Obama administration’s work? “Well, look, that’s part of the process. ... After that [public comment period] is over, the agency takes stock of what’s in the record.” While he said the FCC must have “substantial evidence” justifying its work, he said “there’s no numerical threshold the courts have applied” to evaluate if regulators act appropriately. And by the way, he stopped short of saying consumers’ fears are unfounded. Asked if public-interest groups had been disingenuous, he replied: “The parade of horribles trotted out have no resonance in fact.”