WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission voted down “net neutrality” Thursday morning. The set of rules instated to ensure internet service providers treat all traffic as equal has ended.
Five members of the FCC voted 3-2 along party lines to scrap the Obama-era rules. Chairman Ajit Pai said the approach will end the federal government’s “micromanaging” of the internet.
The end of net neutrality is a huge victory for internet service providers, who are now free to charge different fees for different services. For example, users who stream TV shows could potentially get charged more for that service.
Pai said the rules will return the pre-2015 “free and open internet.” He told NBC News “That is the future as well under a light touch, market-based approach. Consumers benefit, entrepreneurs benefit. Everybody in the internet economy is better off with a market-based approach.”
In essence, net neutrality treated ISPs as a utility, ensuring there was no paid prioritization where slow-lanes and fast-lanes could be created and certain websites couldn’t be blocked.
Many Silicon Valley giants, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, spoke out against the FCC’s plan by calling it “rushed and technically incorrect.”
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