What Chairman Pai thinks about net neutrality

Is Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai for or against network neutrality? In plain English, Chairman Pai is saying he's in favor of the idea of net neutrality; he just doesn't like the FCC's policy of regulating the Internet providers with Title II of the Communications Act. But, how can you be for net neutrality but against the FCC's rules? Aren't the rules "net neutrality"? The FCC regulations are aimed at preserving a free and open Internet, but they aren't technically synonymous with net neutrality. The regulations are simply the government's attempt to defend net neutrality, which is a broader idea about how the Internet should work.

Chairman Pai said he was supportive of a number of so-called freedoms identified by former FCC chairman Michael Powell. Now that he's chairman, Pai isn't saying much about net neutrality beyond that. But we can look to other Title II opponents for clues as to possible alternatives to the current policy. There are several main paths forward, it seems, and any mixture of them seems possible. The FCC could choose not to enforce the net neutrality rules. It could actively seek to roll them back by reversing Wheeler's reclassification. And Congress could seek to legislate.