Since his appointment as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai has pursued a broad-ranging agenda for regulatory reform.
The centerpiece of that agenda was the repeal of the Obama-era “net neutrality” rules on broadband internet providers. The repeal was mostly upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday.
Responding to the president’s Executive Order calling on all federal agencies to get rid of old, outdated, and unconstitutional regulations.
Those rules, some of which date back to the 1940s, restrict cross-ownership of radio and television stations and newspapers.
In November 2017, the FCC rolled back many of those media ownership rules. One of them, a 1975 limitation on cross-ownership of newspapers and radio or TV broadcast stations, was repealed completely.
Other rules were modified, such as the cap on owning two TV stations in the same market unless there were at least eight other media outlets in the same community. The FCC replaced that automatic ban with a case-by-case consideration.
Of course, a federal judge has to step in to throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Under the act, the FCC was directed to review its rules biennially and eliminate those that are no longer needed.
The first such biennial review began in 1996, with the ownership rules high on the list of targeted regulations. But no decision had been reached by the time the second review began in 1998.
Again, no progress was made until 2002, when a reform package was adopted by the FCC. But that reform package was remanded back to the FCC for more study. Ditto in 2007.
The Sept. 23 decision by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals was the third in a history of court decisions blocking reform.
A whole lot more of this @ Court Rulings on FCC’s Deregulatory Agenda 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back
The centerpiece of that agenda was the repeal of the Obama-era “net neutrality” rules on broadband internet providers. The repeal was mostly upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday.
Responding to the president’s Executive Order calling on all federal agencies to get rid of old, outdated, and unconstitutional regulations.
Those rules, some of which date back to the 1940s, restrict cross-ownership of radio and television stations and newspapers.
In November 2017, the FCC rolled back many of those media ownership rules. One of them, a 1975 limitation on cross-ownership of newspapers and radio or TV broadcast stations, was repealed completely.
Other rules were modified, such as the cap on owning two TV stations in the same market unless there were at least eight other media outlets in the same community. The FCC replaced that automatic ban with a case-by-case consideration.
Of course, a federal judge has to step in to throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Under the act, the FCC was directed to review its rules biennially and eliminate those that are no longer needed.
The first such biennial review began in 1996, with the ownership rules high on the list of targeted regulations. But no decision had been reached by the time the second review began in 1998.
Again, no progress was made until 2002, when a reform package was adopted by the FCC. But that reform package was remanded back to the FCC for more study. Ditto in 2007.
The Sept. 23 decision by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals was the third in a history of court decisions blocking reform.
A whole lot more of this @ Court Rulings on FCC’s Deregulatory Agenda 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back
