Government micromanaging the internet again as net neutrality makes a comeback

The Federal Communications Commission has just voted to restore net neutrality regulations, aiming to rein in internet providers.

The decision was split along party lines with a 3-2 vote and mandates that internet service providers must treat all traffic equally. Under Trump in 2017, the previous 2015 FCC regulations were axed — as his administration did not believe the federal government should micromanage the internet.

The initial regulations were put in place under Obama and aimed at preventing service providers like Verizon or Comcast from blocking or degrading the delivery of services from competitors like Netflix and YouTube.

“That’s where you’d get the buffering,” Jeffy explains to Pat Gray. “They would allot only so much for the Netflix feed bandwidth and whatever, and that was when they were fighting over what each company was going to pay for access and everything.”

“But that’s between private companies,” he adds. “If they’re messing with your internet service, change providers,” Gray agrees. “The free market takes care of this.”

The chairman of the FCC, who is a Democrat, said that these rules reflected the importance of high-speed internet as the main mode of communications for many Americans and that “every consumer deserves access that is fast, open, and fair.”

Gray isn’t so sure he agrees.

“Do we all deserve it, really? And do we deserve it to be provided by the government?” he asks.