Telecom policy tilts in favor of industry under Trump's FCC

Consumer advocates complain that hard-fought protections on privacy and competition are at risk, though the new regime says consumers win if businesses have incentives to invest.

[...] they're the first shots in what could turn into a full-fledged war over Obama-era "net neutrality" rules, which were designed to keep phone and cable giants from favoring their own internet services and apps.

For a telecom policy, net neutrality is popular with consumers, drawing attention from comedian John Oliver and spurring people to flood the FCC with roughly 4 million comments (not all in support, of course).

Zero rating may be popular with consumers — hey, free data! — but the FCC under Obama had argued that letting internet providers play favorites undermines streaming-video competition and ultimately leaves consumers worse off.

The agency also exempted additional smaller broadband providers from a net neutrality regulation that required companies to spell out their pricing, such as specifying how long promotional rates last and whether services capped monthly data usage.

[...] the FCC or Congress goes full-bore on net neutrality, the agency will likely "stand down" from enforcing it unless there's a "really extreme" violation, said Marc Martin, technology and telecom attorney with Perkins Coie.

The agency has also blocked part of a broadband privacy measure that requires companies like Comcast and Verizon to take "reasonable measures" to secure customer information like financial data or web browsing histories.