Since President Trump rose to power, he has made it his mission to relax some rules that were passed in the past administration in finance and technology. This is a decision that has made the Federal Communications Commission to issue a warning that it will change the net neutrality rules. For starters, these are rules that govern the broadband providers. They were passed to ensure that consumers are provided equal access regarding the content that they acquire from the internet. Experts say that when the new rules are passed, it will mean more power to the internet companies. This will, on the other hand, give these companies the power to control the experiences that users have when using their services. According to people close to the information, the decision to scrap these rules will be announced by the chairman of the institution Ajit Pai. This announcement will be made on Tuesday. However, the sources could only speak on the condition of anonymity as they didn’t want to jeopardize the prospects of their careers. These are regulations that make it virtually impossible for internet companies to block a user. At the same time, the rules make it hard for broadband providers to charge customers more than they had agreed. The rules were passed during the Obama administration.
According to the sources, the full proposal will be released next month. This will happen during the commission’s meeting and it’s expected that the commissioners will vote according to their party affiliation. The decision will pass with three votes for the Republicans against two from the Democrats. Experts say that rolling back the rules will be seen as a major victory for telecom companies that have advocated for this in years. This includes companies such as Comcast and AT&T. They will seize the opportunity to move against their customers. What a rollback means is that internet companies will have the power to charge higher fees to people wishing to access some websites. This brings about a loophole where internet companies can prioritize their services while compared to websites that are run by other companies. While reached for a comment, the Federal Communications Commission refused to address the issue. This is a move that has also been opposed by the Democrats and Consumer groups. Julius Genachowski is the former chairman of the institution. He said that the system is not broken and doesn’t understand why they would fix it.
Dil Bole Oberoi
