US regulators ditch net neutrality rules as legal battles loom

WASHINGTON (Reuters): The US Federal Communications Commission voted along party lines last week to repeal landmark 2015 rules aimed at ensuring a free and open internet, setting up a court fight over a move that could recast the digital landscape.

The approval of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal in a 3-2 vote marked a victory for internet service providers such as AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc and hands them power over what content consumers can access. It also is the biggest win for Pai in his sweeping effort to undo many telecommunications regulations since taking over at the agency in January.

Democrats, Hollywood and companies such as Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc had urged Pai, a Republican appointed by US President Donald Trump, to keep the Obama-era rules barring service providers from blocking, slowing access to or charging more for certain content. The new rules give internet service providers sweeping powers to change how consumers access the internet but must have new transparency requirements that will require them to disclose any changes to consumers.

After US decision, France says will continue to defend net neutrality

PARIS (Reuters): France will continue to defend “net neutrality” irrespective of what other countries may do, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday, after a United States commission voted to ditch rules on the issue.

The US Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to repeal the landmark 2015 rules aimed at ensuring a free and open internet, setting up a court fight over a move that could recast the digital landscape.

 “France will continue to defend net neutrality despite whatever decisions are taken by other countries,” Le Drian said in a speech on Friday on France’s overseas digital strategy.

The 3-2 vote overturned net neutrality rules that barred broadband providers from blocking or slowing access to content or allowing websites to pay for “fast lanes” to get their content more quickly to consumers.

 “It (net neutrality) is a cardinal principle for the internet to be a space of openness and innovation,” Le Drian said.

The meeting, held amid protests online and in front of the FCC headquarters in Washington, was evacuated before the vote for about 10 minutes due to an unspecified security threat, and resumed after law enforcement with sniffer dogs checked the room.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters the administration “supports the FCC’s efforts. At the same time, the White House certainly has and always will support a free and fair internet.”

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in a statement he will lead a multi-state lawsuit to challenge the reversal.

The FCC said the rules would take effect in a few months after the White House Office of Management and Budget formally approves them.

Pai has argued that the 2015 rules were heavy handed and stifled competition and innovation among service providers.

“The internet wasn’t broken in 2015. We weren’t living in a digital dystopia,” he said.

Consumers are unlikely to see immediate changes but smaller startups worry the lack of restrictions could drive up costs or lead to their content being blocked.

Internet service providers say they will not block or throttle legal content but may engage in paid prioritisation. They argue that the largely unregulated internet functioned well in the two decades before the 2015 order.