---
date: 2017-03-01
draft: false
title: FCC chair offers poor excuses as he seeks to strip consumer protections
tags: ['politics', 'privacy']
---

**[Techdirt:](https://www.techdirt.com/2017/03/01/fcc-boss-falsely-claims-his-attacks-net-neutrality-have-already-made-wireless-sector-more-competitive/)**

> Eliminate functional regulatory oversight and refuse to address limited competition? The end result is... Comcast Corporation and its record-shatteringly-bad customer service, high prices, and usage caps.<!-- excerpt -->

**[The Verge:](http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/1/14756064/net-neutrality-second-anniversary-under-assault)**

> ... net neutrality opponents are sticking with the same arguments they used two years ago: the rules rely on law that's too old, they'll hurt investment, and they'll leave internet providers uncertain of their fate.

**[The Verge:](http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/28/14761510/fcc-chairman-ajit-pai-says-net-neutrality-was-a-mistake)**

> [Ajit] Pai has been chairman of the commission for just over a month now, and in that time, he's already begun chipping away at net neutrality in a few different ways: approving zero rating, scaling back transparency rules, proposing to halt major new privacy requirements. After this speech today, it's evident that Pai is just getting started.

Net neutrality was nice while it lasted, but it looks like it'll be gone soon. More and more this issue seems like something congress should settle definitively but, given the current political makeup of both houses, any decision made likely would not be at all consumer friendly.

**[The EFF:](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/02/new-fcc-chairman-begins-attacks-internet-privacy)**

> Republicans in Congress are planning a much bigger assault on the Internet, by making it illegal for the FCC to protect consumer privacy online.
