December 2017

[Commentary] Is it conceivable that Congress created the Federal Communications Commission so that it could identify a risk and then decide that it should take no action to constrain it? The Restoring Internet Freedom order suggests that the FCC doesn’t approve of blocking, but insists that the FCC will do nothing about it if it takes place. The Federal Trade Commission is a great antitrust and consumer-protection agency and its work is vitally important. But it was not designed to be an expert in the way that communications networks operate.

More than 80 percent of voters oppose the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to repeal its net neutrality rules, according to a new poll from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation. The survey presented respondents with detailed arguments from both supporters and opponents of the repeal plan, before asking them where they stood on the rules. It found that 83 percent overall favored keeping the FCC rules, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats and 86 percent of independents.