Broadband in the Age of Pai: The Past, Present, and Future of the Internet

Authors

Christian Haman

Abstract

The internet has undergone significant changes since its inception. One of President Trump's first actions after being sworn in was to make Ajit Pai Chairman of the FCC. In doing so, President Trump ensured that the nature of the internet will continue to change. This paper initially explores the history of the FCC's internet regulations, including the legislation and court rulings which changed the scope of the FCC's authority. Net neutrality, which is the principle that all lawful internet content should be treated equally by internet service providers, is contextualized and justified using several modern examples of net neutrality violations. Next, the history of net neutrality is recounted, so that the differing views that FCC regulators have had on the scope and content of internet regulations can be better understood. After that, Chairman Pai's disagreements with other FCC commissioners are analyzed, because disagreements among commissioners might foreshadow changes in policy.

Recommended Citation

Christian Haman, Broadband in the Age of Pai: The Past, Present, and Future of the Internet, 4 Emory Corp. Governance & Accountability Rev. 407 (2017).
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/ecgar/vol4/iss2/7