FCC Chairman Ajit Pai re-elected to new term despite strong criticism

[William Gayde]

The US Senate voted this week to re-confirm Ajit Pai as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. His original term was scheduled to finish at the end of this year until President Donald Trump requested a new term. The passing vote gives him a new five-year term which will start retroactively on July 1, 2016.

His confirmation required a simple majority vote and as expected, it was mainly split along party lines. 48 Republicans and four Democrats voted for Pai while 41 Democrats and zero Republicans voted against him. There were also seven senators that did not participate in the vote. The four Democrats voting to elect him were Joseph Manchin (WV), Claire McCaskill (MO), Gary Peters (MI), and Jon Tester (MT). The official voting results are available on the Senate's website.

Pai has faced criticism from most consumers while on the other hand receiving praise from ISPs and lobbying groups. Senator Bill Nelson described Pai as "a vocal, overly partisan, and often hostile opponent of pro-consumer steps taken by his colleagues under the previous administration. And since becoming chairman of the FCC, he has systematically undercut much of the work done over the past eight years."

Verizon, Pai's former employer, issued a statement saying "Chairman Pai has demonstrated his commitment to the agency and fidelity to the law." In addition to striking down net neutrality legislation in favor of ISPs, Pai has also focused on expanding broadband coverage for elderly and low income Americans.

Given the party makeup of the Senate, this vote was more of a technicality since there were no serious chances to block the re-nomination. The Senate approves five FCC commissioners and the president makes the final selection of who will serve as chair. Although Pai's term is five years, he will likely vacate the seat should the presidency change parties in the 2020 election.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/71250-fcc-chairman-ajit-pai-re-elected-new-term.html

 

[stewi0001]

Pai is such a puppet.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

"48 Republicans and four Democrats voted for Pai while 41 Democrats and zero Republicans voted against him. "

I think what is amazing here is that the democrats couldnt even come together to prevent this guy from getting reelected. They really are a mess.

You know if it was a democrat, every single republican would be there voting against them.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Too bad. Howsoever under-regulated the industry may be - no matter how far in the sand this ostrich sticks its head, there is still a large body of law and the FTC to protect the consumer.

It would be nice to replace Pai with a commissioner who demonstrates a belief in competition.

 

[Uncle Al]

A shell game is a shell game is a shell game ......

 

[davislane1]

"48 Republicans and four Democrats voted for Pai while 41 Democrats and zero Republicans voted against him. "

I think what is amazing here is that the democrats couldnt even come together to prevent this guy from getting reelected. They really are a mess.

You know if it was a democrat, every single republican would be there voting against them.

The whole Democrat vs Republican act has been fading rapidly in recent months. They are the same party and the only thing they do differently is optics.

 

[Kibaruk]

What's funny is that the FCC chairman gets praised by ISPs, if he had been doing his role correctly he should be hated by them.

 

[stewi0001]

What's funny is that the FCC chairman gets praised by ISPs, if he had been doing his role correctly he should be hated by them.

Instead he's all cuddled up with the ISPs

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

"a vocal, overly partisan, and often hostile opponent of pro-consumer steps taken by his colleagues under the previous administration. And since becoming chairman of the FCC, he has systematically undercut much of the work done over the past eight years."

Quotes like this make me laugh - he says he's taken steps against the previous administration like it's a bad thing. This is exactly why we want him in there!

What's funny is that the FCC chairman gets praised by ISPs, if he had been doing his role correctly he should be hated by them.

Instead he's all cuddled up with the ISPs

I don't think he's cuddled up with them, but of course the ISPs like him. He's anti-regulation, which the ISPs prefer. And so do I - less regulation makes it easier for ISPs to expand which means lower prices. AT&T right now is going door to door in my neighborhood telling everyone they now have fiber lines available and for $15 less than Spectrum (Time Warner) they'll give you double the speed. Yes Please! Can't do stuff like that if the govt is in charge.

 

[senketsu]

I don't know the details, but when he gets praise from ISP's and lobby groups I wonder whether any money has changed hands. Perhaps it is mutual favours between ISP's, those that fund the lobby groups and Pai. Notice that in the favours scenario, the missing party is the consumer.

 

[stewi0001]

I don't think he's cuddled up with them, but of course the ISPs like him. He's anti-regulation, which the ISPs prefer. And so do I - less regulation makes it easier for ISPs to expand which means lower prices. AT&T right now is going door to door in my neighborhood telling everyone they now have fiber lines available and for $15 less than Spectrum (Time Warner) they'll give you double the speed. Yes Please! Can't do stuff like that if the govt is in charge.

I prefer less regulations/laws as well, however companies/people don't always play nice or use common sense. I have seen no decrease in my rates with Verizon. I'm not surprised by AT&T, they seem to be trying to step up their game but I think that is them trying to be competitive.

 

[numnutz2005]

"a vocal, overly partisan, and often hostile opponent of pro-consumer steps taken by his colleagues under the previous administration. And since becoming chairman of the FCC, he has systematically undercut much of the work done over the past eight years."

Quotes like this make me laugh - he says he's taken steps against the previous administration like it's a bad thing. This is exactly why we want him in there!

What's funny is that the FCC chairman gets praised by ISPs, if he had been doing his role correctly he should be hated by them.

Instead he's all cuddled up with the ISPs

I don't think he's cuddled up with them, but of course the ISPs like him. He's anti-regulation, which the ISPs prefer. And so do I - less regulation makes it easier for ISPs to expand which means lower prices. AT&T right now is going door to door in my neighborhood telling everyone they now have fiber lines available and for $15 less than Spectrum (Time Warner) they'll give you double the speed. Yes Please! Can't do stuff like that if the govt is in charge.

lol u kinda forgot that TW doesnt have data caps but ATT does. just because ur offered fiber over copper doesnt mean u should switch. they dont raise the data cap when u switch to fiber. its 1tb either way the only diff is now u can hit that cap much faster. This isnt creating a competitive market at all....its only going to allow them to charge us more for what we get now and even less than that in the future. 1TB of data isnt much at all. I dont have netflix but we have 2 xbox ones running online games fairly often and it passes that 1tb every month. I can only imagine how netflix users deal with the cap.....

the fact that isp's pat a fraction of a penny per gig yet they charge $50, $60, $70, and even more for plans with data caps of 1tb should have been enough proof that consumers arent being protected by the folks elected to protect us. If we round the fraction of a penny up to just a solid $.01 per gig that comes out to $10 for 1tb of data....yet isp's are charging $10 for just a block of 50gb....thats $9.50 in profits. but really its even more since I rounded the number up to 1 penny to make it easier .