FCC’s Ajit Pai states Congress was best not to bring back net neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday began the brand-new year by revealing his satisfaction that an effort in Congress to bring back net neutrality guidelines stopped working to gather the required votes.

Democrats had actually been attempting to bring back net neutrality– Obama- period guidelines developed to guarantee that all traffic on the web was dealt with similarly– utilizing the Congressional Review Act (CRA). A resolution passed the Senate, however Democrats in the House stopped working to collect sufficient votes by the end of the year to utilize the legal loophole to reverse the FCC’s rollback of the popular guidelines.

< div class ="shortcode video v2" data-video-playlist="[{" id="" ajit="" pai:="" net="" neutrality="" repeal="" helps="" rural="" broadband="" chairman="" says="" that="" axing="" those="" rules="" has="" already="" spurred="" investment="" in="" communities.="" news="" video="">

Now playing:
Watch this:

FCC’s Ajit Pai: Net neutrality repeal helps rural broadband

6:22

But the fight over net neutrality isn’t over. Attorneys general from 22 states, along with several activist groups and tech companies, have filed suit, accusing the FCC of arbitrarily rolling back the rules and overstepping its authority to ban states from passing their own protections. The heated legal battle is headed to the Federal Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and could eventually end up at the Supreme Court.

Here’s Pai’s statement in full:

“I’m pleased that a strong bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives declined to reinstate heavy-handed Internet regulation. They did the right thing — especially considering the positive results for American consumers since the adoption of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Over the past year, the Internet has remained free and open. Broadband speeds are up, with download speeds in the United States increasing more than 35 percent in 2018, according to a recent report from Ookla. Internet access is also expanding, and the digital divide is closing. For example, a recent report by the Fiber Broadband Association found that fiber was made available to more new homes in 2018 than in any previous year. In short, the FCC’s light-touch approach is working. In 2019, we’ll continue to pursue our forward-looking agenda to bring digital opportunity to all Americans.”

Supporters of net neutrality say the internet as we know it may not exist much longer without the protections. Major tech companies, such as Google and Facebook, and internet luminaries, such as web creator Tim Berners-Lee, fall into that camp. Since the repeal, they’ve been working in Congress and in state legislatures to reinstate the rules.

Net neutrality: The rules may be gone, but the battle continues.

Taking It to Extremes: Mix insane situations — erupting volcanoes, nuclear meltdowns, 30-foot waves — with everyday tech. Here’s what happens.