WASHINGTON (CN) – The Federal Communications Commission is poised to kill net-neutrality rules on Thursday despite sharp bipartisan criticism.
Adopted in the Obama administration, net neutrality bars internet service providers, or ISPs, from offering slower connection speeds to different customers.
Thousands of public comments supporting the rules have been rolling in since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai unveiled repeal plans at a public hearing before Thanksgiving.
FCC rules stipulate that no more than three commissioners may be members of the same political party, and Pai’s repeal measure is expected garner three votes from two fellow Republicans, Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, when the commission meets again Thursday.
Democratic Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel are expected to dissent at Wednesday’s vote.
In a Monday appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Pai told the Fox News program’s host that restoration of a “free and open internet” hinges on repealing net neutrality.
One advocate of open internet argued in an interview, however, that Pai’s claims rest on a faulty premise.
“From a big-picture perspective, Chairman Pai believes that innovation is largely driven by large internet service providers, rather than by users, coders and engineers,” said Ferras Vinh, policy counsel at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology.
“Based on that philosophy,” Vinh continued, “he argues that user protections that limit ISPs from blocking, slowing or levying tolls on content represent restrictions on the internet itself. But these rules protect the fundamental digital rights of users in a market where they may have limited choices among broadband providers.”
Though Pai has blamed the Open Internet Order for hurting infrastructure investment, Vinh said the chair is relying on “flawed studies and anecdotes.”
“The most glaring problem with this claim is that it conflicts with the statements made by ISPs themselves, who have said that the implementation of net neutrality rules had no effect on infrastructure investment,” Vinh said.
As for the few, small ISPs that blamed net neutrality for hurting their bottom line, Vinh said they were never able to provide the data to back up their claims.
Free Press, one advocacy group that reviewed ISP records, found that the small providers either “expanded or upgraded their infrastructure after the Open Internet Order was implemented.”
The FCC’s Thursday vote prompted a letter from 21 self-described internet pioneers, including Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak and the inventors of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee and Vint Cerf.
Describing Pai’s proposal as “flawed and factually inaccurate,” the letter accuses the FCC of ignoring expert input to push its repeal through.