Tech news outlet, The Verge, has published what it calls "The 84 Biggest Flops, Fails and Dead Dreams of the Decade in Tech," and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai came in at number one, beating out Google Glass, Windows Phone, 3DTV and "the concept of privacy," among the veritable host of others.
Pai's top placement was tied to his repeal of net neutrality rules in the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom order.
The Verge called net neutrality one of the great success stories of the decade that kept greedy monopolistic gatekeepers like Comcast and Verizon in check until Pai killed it.
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The piece slammed Pai for "ignoring millions of Americans who demanded net neutrality in favor of a small set of powerful interests..."
Pai's RIF order eliminated rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization as well as a general conduct standard that was meant to give the FCC authority to regulate conduct not prohibited by the rules but found, on a case-by-case basis, to violate net neutrality. It also reclassified internet access as an information service no longer subject to Title II common carrier rules mandating nondiscriminatory access.
Pai, backed by ISPs, argued that the net neutrality rules discouraged investment and innovation, including investment in deploying next-generation broadband, and that net neutrality could be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.
