Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is not a fan of the Net Neutrality laws established by the Obama administration earlier this year, and has gone on record stating that if he is elected, he will work to appeal regulations designed to ensure ISPs treat all types of data equally.
According to Engadget and Ars Technica, the former Florida governor argues in a new post that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy classifying all Internet service providers (ISPs) as “public utilities” subjects them to “antiquated ‘common carrier’ regulation.”
“Rather than enhancing consumer welfare,” his team explained, “these rules prohibit one group of companies (ISPs) from charging another group of companies (content companies) the full cost for using their services.” Bush also noted that some smaller broadband providers testified under that the law forced them to “cut back” on efforts to “upgrade and expand their networks.”
If elected president, Bush could appoint a new FCC chairperson who would work to overturn the Net Neutrality laws, which passed 3-2 by a Democrat-led majority back in February. Or he could push for Congress to pass a bill to limit or overturn the Commission’s regulations.
Trump, Fiorina, Carson, and Rubio also oppose the regulations
Under the FCC regulations, ISPs are prohibited from blocking or throttling Web traffic, or giving priority to any specific online service in exchange for payments, Ars Technica said. Trade groups representing the nation’s largest telecom companies, wireless carriers, and cable service providers have sued the FCC to block the rules.
Bush is not the only GOP candidate to come out against Net Neutrality laws, as Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and Marco Rubio have all criticized the regulation. Democrats such as Hillary Clinton “generally” support the FCC policy, the website said. Under Bush’s brother, former president George W. Bush, Internet access was regulated as an “information service.”
“No one, whether government or corporate, should control free and open access to the Internet. The Internet is too important to allow broadband providers to make the rules,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in February. The new rules, he added, were “no more a [secret government] plan to regulate the Internet than the First Amendment is a plan to regulate free speech.”
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