Courtesy By #BBC #News
https://goo.gl/LHevH4
#Neutrality #fear over #Trump appointee
#President #Donald #Trump has chosen
Ajit Pai as the new head of the US Federal Communications Commission,
the government agency which regulates telecoms issues.
The appointment has raised concerns among internet rights activists that laws ensuring net neutrality are now under threat.
Net
neutrality is the term given to the view that all traffic on the
internet should be treated equally - rather than, for instance, internet
service providers being allowed to charge more for a “fast lane” for
people wanting to use data-heavy services such as Netflix.
Supporters
of net neutrality - which includes Google and Facebook - believe it is
vital to ensure competition among online companies.
If a
fledgling video service could not afford to be in the so-called fast
lane it would struggle to compete with the likes of YouTube or Vimeo,
they argue.
Typically, Republican members of the FCC have voted
unsuccessfully against net neutrality - under President Trump the
commission will have a Republican majority.
‘Fire up the weed whacker'
Under President Obama, the laws over net neutrality were regularly debated, often provoking a strong public response.
In 2015 landmark laws were passed
to protect net neutrality, a move seen as a major victory for advocates
who had worried the corporate tide was pushing heavily against them.
However,
Mr Pai, speaking after President Trump’s election win, said: "During
the Trump administration, we will shift from playing defence at the FCC
to going on [the] offence.
"We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation.”
Mr Pai was already an FCC commissioner and so therefore can more directly into the role without a Senate confirmation hearing.
In the past he voted against strengthening net neutrality laws.
Craig
Aaron, president of communications advocacy group Free Press, said:
“Ajit Pai has been on the wrong side of just about every major issue
that has come before the FCC during his tenure. He’s never met a
mega-merger he didn’t like or a public safeguard he didn’t try to
undermine.”
Contradicting Trump
But the
appointment was welcomed on Monday by telecoms giant Verizon, Mr Pai’s
former employer, as well as other internet service providers such as
Comcast and AT&T.
For AT&T in particular, the move could spell extremely good news.
Mr Pai is said to be supportive of the mega-merger between AT&T and Time Warner
announced last year.
This
contradicts President Trump’s assurance the merger was "a deal we will
not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of
power in the hands of too few”.
Time Warner is also the parent company of CNN, the network that has come in for the most criticism from President Trump.
In
a statement, AT&T said: "Chairman Pai will work with his fellow
commissioners to quickly and decisively put back in place the
commonsense regulatory framework necessary to support the president’s
agenda.”
