December 2017

Ajit Pai is drunk on free market economics. There’s no other way to explain his decision as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission’s to tear up the nation’s net neutrality rules for no good reason. Contrary to the view of some critics, Pai is not corrupt. Yes, he was a lawyer for Verizon, a fierce opponent of net neutrality, but his decision to scrap the rules was not motivated by a desire to win favor with his former bosses in the telecom industry. Instead, the problem is that Pai is a zealot.

Puerto Rico's post-Maria communications effort could serve as a disaster-response playbook for other governments. Three months after Maria made landfall, rolled back regulations, experimental technologies and portable satellite terminals have helped the government and private-sector restore communications across more than 85 percent of the island. 

The ink isn't dry yet on the federal government's decision to repeal its network neutrality rules, and yet many are already gearing up for what they say is an inevitable legal battle (once again) over the future of the Web. Because of the potentially far-reaching consequences of the vote, consumer groups and some state attorneys general have vowed to sue the FCC to overturn its decision. The first suits could be filed in mid-January, according to some analysts. Opponents of the FCC are expected to make two broad categories of arguments.