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If FCC repeals net neutrality, FTC won’t leave users unprotected

By  |  August 30, 2017

Posted by The Hill

If FCC repeals net neutrality, FTC won’t leave users unprotected

By Maureen K. Ohlhausen

The internet grew up without much government regulation. But the more central it becomes to daily life, the more vigorous grows the debate about whether and how the government should regulate it.

The best example, of course, is the ongoing debate over net neutrality regulation of broadband providers. Do we need government regulation to preserve the benefits of an open internet?

The FTC analyzed this question 10 years ago in a bipartisan 2007 report on net neutrality. The report exhaustively cataloged arguments for and against net neutrality regulation. Ten years later, we hear the same arguments based on very similar evidence, and thus the report’s conclusions remain highly relevant. And where the evidence has changed, such as in the dramatic growth of wireless broadband, it shows the broadband market is more competitive than it was in 2007, strengthening the report’s conclusions.

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