Trump FCC can't repeal rules quickly, but can enforce how it wants

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission under President-elect Donald Trump is likely to take a hard look at network neutrality and the reclassification of broadband as a Title II common carrier service. Repealing a regulation so recently blessed by the Court of Appeals may, however, be a lengthy and difficult process. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) privacy regulations pursuant to the Title II reclassification may be more readily overturned because no court has yet ruled on them. But that would still take some time.

In the interim, the new FCC should adopt a more rational enforcement policy. One early candidate should be the treatment of "pay-for-privacy" or "financial incentive" plans. These are broadband service plans that offer discounts to subscribers who permit their ISP to collect and use their data. The new FCC privacy regulations suggest an enforcement policy that will actively discourage these plans, notwithstanding FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's claim that, "The bottom line is that it's your data. How it's used and shared should be your choice." Left unsaid was that he prefers some choices to others.

[Thomas M. Lenard is senior fellow and president emeritus of the Technology Policy Institute.]