Make the Net Neutral Again

[Commentary] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said he’ll advance his network neutrality proposal under a notice and comment procedure, instead of offloading the rules with a blunt agency tool known as a declaratory ruling. This is a welcome departure from his predecessor, Tom Wheeler, who ditched his own network neutrality proposal after President Barack Obama ordered the agency to invoke public-utility regulation.

Chairman Pai’s open process won’t prevent a synaptic breakdown by the lobbyists who want political control of the internet and are calling him a shill for cable companies and a fascist who wants to squelch speech on the web. No matter that Chairman Pai wants to divest government and himself of discretionary power. Pai deserves particular credit for calling out Free Press as a “spectacularly misnamed” group that deployed net neutrality as a pretext for government control. The Pai plan will take regulatory shape in stages over the next few months, and perhaps his actions will galvanize Congress to take the hint and codify his protections into law.