Mr. Pai is a former attorney for Verizon, and has talked about taking a weed whacker to the previous protections for net neutrality and other pro consumer, and pro small business regulations currently in place for the internet and media access and use.
Mr Pai’s appointment to the leadership position of the FCC has the appearances of a large setback for those who support affordable access for all Americans, which includes PSA. Also a setback for those who support opportunities for online cloud based small businesses.
Without net neutrality rules, such Mom & Pop cloud based business are in a very vulnerable position trying to compete compared to the power and control of the giant monopoly telecom/ media conglomerates, such as ATT, Verizon, Comcast et al. who can easily just squeeze out their smaller competitors.
The really big problem with that: the lean startups and other innovative businesses at a local scale are the very laboratory from which we hope to find the next best things to compete in world commerce. And of course some of that innovation we need, is in the form of online services such as for learning and healthcare, two of the biggest components of the US economy.
[gview file=”https://publicservicesalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/FCC-to-be-led-by-Ajit-Pai-staunch-opponent-of-consumer-protection-rules-Ars-Technica.pdf”]