Telecom Industry Ass Kisser Ajit Pai Comes Out Of Hiding To Once Again Pretend That Killing Net Neutrality Was A Great Idea
from the thank-the-states-for-net-neutrality dept
Every so often, I see somebody, who has no idea what they’re talking about, say some variant of: “well, the internet still works despite all of that freaking out by consumer groups, therefore net neutrality must not have been important.” I’ve noted repeatedly how that statement is the claim of deeply unserious people for a deep well of reasons, yet the uninformed hot take never quite seems to die.
This week, I saw several folks pop up again trying to make the same argument:
So look, net neutrality rules were an imperfect, stopgap measure to prevent your regional broadband monopoly from abusing a lack of competition to rip off consumers or bully competitors. Trump’s captured FCC boss Ajit Pai stripped the rules away using an array of sleazy tactics that even involved the use of dead and fake people to pretend the idea was popular (something you generally don’t have to do when your argument stands on its merits).
In the years since the federal repeal, the entire west coast and huge swaths of the midwest and east coast have passed state-level net neutrality laws. That’s why many of the worst case scenarios didn’t manifest, not because “net neutrality didn’t matter.” ISPs don’t want to run afoul of state AGs, so they’ve avoided some of the heavier-handed behaviors consumer groups warned about.
But make no mistake, big ISPs like Comcast and AT&T still routinely abuse their captive markets to rip off consumers fairly vigorously. And it’s important to understand: the Trump repeal of net neutrality didn’t just kill net neutrality rules, it effectively neutered much of the FCC’s consumer protection authority at industry behest. If you’re at all celebrating that, you’re violently misinformed and not paying attention.
Joining this latest “the internet still works therefore net neutrality must not have mattered” sing-a-long is former FCC boss Ajit Pai, who, before the FCC, worked at Verizon, and immediately after joined AEI (where old captured telecom regulators often go to write about how telecom monopolies are great) and a hedge fund that invests in telecom.
After being widely criticized for years, Pai had mostly been quiet post FCC. At least until he popped up this week in a piece over at National Review, where Pai tries to argue that thanks to his decision to kill federal net neutrality protections, US broadband competition is magically soaring, and all the folks that warned about the negative impact of eliminating the rules should feel silly and bad:
In sum, the critics were confident and clear: A digital apocalypse was upon us. Half a decade later, we can now make a sober assessment of their predictions. Were they right?
In an era defined by the paranoid style of American political argument, it may not surprise you to learn that they were not. In fact, they were diametrically wrong. The evidence is indisputable today that in the five years since the FCC’s decision to repeal net-neutrality regulations went into effect, American consumers are benefiting from broadband networks that are stronger and more extensive than ever.
It’s very telling that Pai writes an entire column on this subject yet never once manages to mention that the primary reason many of the worst outcomes didn’t materialize is because states stepped in to pass state laws ISPs aren’t keen on violating.
So completely captured was Pai by the industry he pretended to oversee, his net neutrality repeal even tried to ban states from protecting broadband consumers. Fortunately the courts have time and time again shot that effort down, pointing out the FCC can’t abdicate its responsible on consumer protection, then turn around and tell states what they can do.
In the years since the net neutrality fracas, I’ve really tried to shift the conversation and people’s attention away from “net neutrality” and over to telecom monopolization and federal corruption, because that’s what this was always about.
While it’s still helpful to have competent consumer protection, you wouldn’t need net neutrality rules if the U.S. had robust competition (because users, annoyed by predatory behavior, could just switch ISPs). It doesn’t. And captured regulators like Pai, ever keen to inform you that U.S. broadband is secretly wonderful, are a major reason why.
As a result, the vast majority of Americans have just one or two ISPs to choose from. ISPs that dramatically over-charge for service, routinely rip consumers off with errant fees, and feature some of the worst customer service of any industry in America. And when federal regulators try to do anything about it, they’re quickly set upon by industry shitweasels (just go ask recent FCC nominee Gigi Sohn).
In response, almost all meaningful broadband policy fights have shifted to the state and local level, including the rise in community-owned broadband cooperatives, utilities, and municipal broadband networks. Federal telecom policymakers have repeatedly shown they’re too corrupt to stand up to the giant telecom monopolies they’re supposed to oversee. Ajit Pai was a poster boy for the phenomenon and is very keen to rewrite history and his ugly legacy of telecom monopoly ass kissing.
If you’re at all celebrating the fact that captured and corrupt regulators gave a giant middle finger to the public just so a bunch of lumbering telecom monopolies could rip everyone off with reckless abandon, you’re a deeply unserious person who wasn’t paying attention and should be laughed at.
Filed Under: ajit pai, broadband, california, consumer protection, digital divide, gigi sohn, high speed internet, monopoly, net neutrality, oregon, telecom, washington