On Internet Regulation, the FCC Goes Back to the Future
Forbes, March 12, 2018
11 Pages Posted: 20 Aug 2018
Date Written: March 12, 2018
Abstract
This article reviews eight major Internet regulatory initiatives of the FCC between 2012 and 2016, all of which have been reversed by courts, Congress, or the agency itself. These include reclassification of broadband as a public utility, net neutrality, municipal broadband, prison telephone rates, set-top box mandate, privacy, and the re-regulation of enterprise data services. Together, they paint a picture of an agency determined, for better or worse, to appoint itself regulator-in-chief for the Internet. But lacking Congressional authority to do so, the initiatives were all short-lived.
Keywords: FCC, broadband, net neutrality, public utility, municipal broadband, privacy, set-top box, prison telephone,enterprise, special access, business data services, rate regulation, competition, broadband
JEL Classification: D40, K23, L14, L22, L43, L51, L86, L96, O33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation