Net Neutrality Still Needs a Legislative Fix

Now that the Republican-controlled FCC is officially scrapping the Obama-era net neutrality regulations, Rob Atkinson writes in RealClearPolicy that it is taking all his will power not to crow to the hardline activists on the broadband Left: “I told you so.” When they pushed the FCC in 2015 to classify broadband as a Title II telecommunications service, ITIF argued that the odds of the decision being overturned—either in court or under a future Republican administration—were not insignificant. Given that risk, the prudent course would have been to seek a legislative compromise that could have locked in open Internet protections that could not be easily overturned. The net neutrality advocates wouldn’t deal, so now they find themselves back to square one. But the issue has not necessarily been resolved once and for all. In fact, a bipartisan legislative solution along the lines ITIF proposed in 2015 is still in everyone’s interest.