The correct way to address net neutrality is through Congressional legislation, but unfortunately a new approach is now pushing the same failed framework that hasn’t worked in the past.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) has backed two proposals to shift power away from Congress and to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He signed on to the Democrats’ scheme to revive the failed Title II internet regulations and introduced legislation that will create a vague “Title VIII” telecommunications regulation regime that leaves too much up to unresolved regulatory issues.
The internet flourished without these kinds of regulations for its entire history, and can still continue to do so. The moves by Chairman Ajit Pai and the FCC to restore internet regulation to the light-touch rules that helped its development are the right way to go.
Indeed, some of the loudest voices who used to be proponents of Title II regulations have realized they were wrong. Netflix, for example, has seen successes both before and after those regulations were in effect. CEO Reed Hastings recently said that the principles of net neutrality can and will be protected without Title II.
There’s broad support for the light-touch approach. Unfortunately, Rep. Coffman has endorsed both the heavy-handed Title II regulations and proposed a new complex set of regulations that are unnecessary and place too much authority in the hands of the FCC. The internet can and will flourish without these regulations, and while legislation rather than agency administration is the right way to address net neutrality, the Coffman approach comes up short on all respects.