On July 14, 2017, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz submitted expanded public comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of Chairman Ajit Pai’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that removes an outdated regulatory regime from the internet and restores internet freedom. The comments read in part:
“On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of CAGW, I offer the following comments in support of restorin
“On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of CAGW, I offer the following comments in support of restoring internet freedom to the countless Americans who use this vital service.”
“The reclassification of the internet under the OIO was not about net neutrality. It was instead a decision to apply several provisions of Title II to ISPs. An April 25, 2017 study by Dr. George Ford, an economist at the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies (Phoenix Center), found that had Title II reclassification not been imposed on internet providers, an additional $150-200 billion would have been invested in infrastructure. In a follow-on to this study, Dr. Ford further reiterated on May 16, 2017 that ‘Investment in telecommunications is below expectations by about 25 percent since the FCC’s introduction of Title II reclassification.’”
“CAGW supports the FCC’s reconsideration of the OIO, and is encouraged by the NPRM for Restoring Internet Freedom (WC Docket No. 17-108). Should the order be approved by the commission, a free and open internet will be reinstated, while economic growth will flourish through a light-touch regulatory approach to internet governance.”
Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.
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