Marking the End of Title II Rules, ITIF Calls for Bipartisan Net Neutrality Legislation

WASHINGTON—As the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom Order” takes effect today, eliminating the heavy-handed 2016 Title II net neutrality rules, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading science and tech policy think tank, issued the followed statement from Director of Broadband and Spectrum Policy Doug Brake:

The Obama Administration’s net neutrality rules, grounded in Title II of the Communications Act, put the United States on the path of regulating broadband like an unchanging public utility. It is time to put the Title II chapter in the net neutrality saga behind us.

Chairman Pai’s efforts return broadband to a regulatory environment better suited to encouraging an innovative, evolving communications platform. The Chicken Littles claiming “the end of the Internet” will now be proved wrong. However, there is still much to be done to achieve a stable, lasting legal framework that gives everyone in the Internet ecosystem confidence to invest in and use this crucial technology. Now is the time for policymakers to work toward bipartisan compromise legislation that will stand the test of time.

A recent ITIF report offers a proposed framework for bipartisan legislation that would establish FCC oversight of light-touch net neutrality rules, as well as expand the scope of existing proposals by pairing funding for rural broadband, broadband adoption and digital-literacy programs with baseline rules to protect and promote the open Internet.