Congress needs to drop the gloves long enough to come up with net neutrality rules that clarify the government’s role in monitoring the internet.
Last week saw New Jersey join the lawsuit by 22 states against the FCC’s rollback of the rules, as new Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order mandating net neutrality in internet service provider contracts with the state.
Other states are working on their own net neutrality regulations in the absence of federal ones.
All of those efforts bring the possibility of lengthy legal battles, given that the FCC’s Restoring Internet Freedom order pre-empts state efforts to regulate internet access.
Broadband is too important, with its reach into every corner of society now a foregone conclusion with the Internet of Things, to leave its regulatory fate to the pendulum swings of political regime changes.
It is time to find common ground — including ending the name calling and threats — on rules that both protect access to content and incentivize private industry to continue to build out and upgrade the ’net.
