What a state representative wrote for me:
"Thank you for contacting me regarding net neutrality and federal regulation of the Internet. I appreciate your views on this important subject and welcome the opportunity to respond.
As you know, net neutrality is the concept that the federal government should issue rules and regulations that require all legal content found on the Internet to be treated equally. That means streaming video services can't pay more to secure more bandwidth and faster speeds for their customers. It also means Internet Service Providers (ISP) can't slow down the service of customers using large amounts of bandwidth to watch movies or play video games in favor of customers who check their email and browse the Internet. This idea is worth serious thought and debate. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) action on this issue under former President Obama went far beyond equal treatment of content.
In October 2017, new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced the repeal of Title II regulations. This will return internet regulations to their pre-2015 state. Before 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had the broad authority to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive practices and during that time ISPs were not blocking access to websites.
The FTC can pursue and prosecute unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent business practices which prohibit companies from selling consumers one product or service but providing them with something different. If an ISP fails to disclose blocking, throttling, or other actions that would matter to a consumer, the FTC's deception authority would apply. I believe this authority can properly hold providers accountable without placing unnecessary regulations on the private sector. I will closely monitor this recent ruling by the FCC and keep your thoughts and concerns in mind should any such legislation come to the House floor for consideration.
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. If I can be of any further assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me or visit my Web site.."
