A Democratic commissioner at the FTC says the sky will not fall with the repeal of net neutrality

See Everybody Calm Down About Net Neutrality by Jon Leibowitz. Excerpts:

"Just as the sky did not fall when the FCC imposed its current Title II version of net neutrality in 2015, it also won’t fall if the FCC reclassifies broadband as an information service later this week—that is, if it follows through with the repeal of so-called net neutrality that has so many up in arms."

"the FCC plan would restore power to police the internet to the Federal Trade Commission."

"It protected internet users from unfair, deceptive and anticompetitive practices for the two decades before the FCC’s 2015 rule, which removed its jurisdiction.

Consider the core principles of net neutrality, which I have long supported: unfettered access of the entire (lawful) internet and transparency about broadband providers’ practices. The FTC worked on those issues for years. In 2000, it conditioned AOL’s acquisition of Time Warner on the combined company’s commitment to treat competing internet providers operating on its network fairly.

Since then, the FTC has defended the rights of municipalities to provide broadband competition and helped drive the public debate about the importance of neutrality rules, even taking action in 2014 against AT&T Mobility for allegedly slowing down the bandwidth of mobile users with “unlimited” data plans.

With its authority restored—and assuming the agency prevails in a challenge to its power pending in a federal appellate court, as is likely—the FTC can hold internet providers to their public promises to maintain an open internet. Every major broadband provider has committed not to block, throttle or unfairly discriminate against lawful content. The FCC’s plan would compel providers to give customers clear and detailed information about their practices—commitments both the FTC and state attorneys general will be able to enforce, since false public disclosures violate the law.

Further, the FTC has used its enforcement authority to bring actions against other corporate practices that harm consumers. It has already done so against many of the biggest companies operating online, including edge providers (Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter), broadband providers (Comcast, AT&T) and distributors ( Dish Network and DirecTV).

The FTC and the Justice Department can also prohibit unfair competition by enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act—a formidable hammer against anyone who would harmfully block, throttle or prioritize traffic.

Perhaps most important, the plan to restore FTC jurisdiction is good for consumers because it puts the nation’s foremost privacy cop back on the beat after a two-year absence. The FTC brought more than 500 privacy and data-security cases against companies large and small. It used this authority against broadband providers selling sensitive personal data without permission or failing to protect customer data from hackers and cyber criminals. The Obama administration called for the FTC to be the sole federal privacy enforcement agency as part of its much-vaunted 2012 Privacy Bill of Rights."