Barry Diller, chairman of edge provider IAC (ask.com, The Daily Beast, and Angie's List, among many others) told CNBC he doesn't care what the FCC does or doesn't do about network neutrality because he doesn't think that neutrality can now be violated.
He was asked to weigh in on the issue given the Trump Administration pledge to roll back Title II--FCC chairman Ajit Pai is expected to propose that rollback next week.
"I think it is over," he said. "I don't care what they do about net neutrality. It is [the] practice of the world," he told CNBC's Julia Boorstin on Power Lunch Monday (Nov. 13) according to a transcript of the show.
"I do not believe no matter what law supports or is tossed aside, that net neutrality is not going to be the way things are done. You're still going to be able to push a button and publish to the world, without anybody in between asking you for tribute. I think that is now just he way things are done. I don't think it can be violated no matter what laws are back."
Diller's interview comes as some in Congress are calling for the government to apply the same kind of net neutrality restrictions on edge providers as are on ISPs.
It also comes as Pai is expected to schedule a December vote on rolling back Title II classification of ISPs and revisiting the bright-line rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization.
Diller also weighed in on the AT&T-Time Warner merger brouhaha. He said he did not think it mattered if the DOJ sued to block the deal because AT&T-Time Warner would win in court anyway, which he thinks it should.
AT&T has said it will fight any effort to block the deal to force AT&T to spin off Turner Broadcasting or DirecTV.
Diller said whether CNN is part of AT&T or Time Warner has nothing to do with what's right or wrong about media consolidation adding: "It's nuts."
