What some call “net neutrality” and others bemoan as a hindrance to internet freedom was teed up for one of the most defining votes of the Pai Commission at the FCC’s December 2017 Open Meeting.
The vote was a formality, as the Republican majority approved the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. This ended “heavy-handed utility-style Title II regulation of the Internet” and returned broadband Internet access service to its classification as an information service under Title I, “the light-touch framework under which the Internet developed and flourished,” the GOP leadership of the Commission says.
The order brought a legal challenge, and the D.C. Circuit upheld most of the FCC’s order. But, three “discrete issues” were remanded. And, on Oct. 27, the GOP majority moved forward with an Order of Remand in response to the Court — over the Democratic minority’s vociferous objections.
