Biden Signs Executive Order Reshaping Technology and Internet Competition | Womble bond dickinson
Today, President Biden signed a Executive Decree containing 72 guidelines for more than a dozen federal agencies to impose regulations, primarily aimed at major tech and telecommunications to reshape and promote competition within technology and on the Internet. The order encourages the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restore its old principles of net neutrality and increase transparency and competition among Internet service providers (ISPs). It also encourages the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to crack down on what the administration sees as massive, anti-competitive Big Techs.
What does this mean for telecoms?
Executive Order encourages the FCC to ban excessive fees for early termination of internet service and prohibits exclusive partnerships between landlords and ISPs that offer tenants only one internet option, seen as unfairly pushing prices up. .
To promote transparency, the Order encourages the FCC to review the Obama administration’s plans for a “Broadband nutrition label», Which would more clearly inform customers of tariffs and subscription prices.
Net neutrality restored
The order also encourages the FCC to reinstate the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, which classify ISPs as a public operator, as well as telecommunications companies. These rules were overturned by the FCC under the Trump administration, which excluded the internet from almost all regulations. Net neutrality regulations would prohibit ISPs from slowing down or blocking access to online services, also known as throttling.
What does this mean for big tech?
Biden’s executive order also encourages the FTC and DOJ to step up antitrust crackdown on Big Tech. The Administration encourages these federal agencies to strengthen its control over mergers, unfair competition with small businesses and the massive accumulation of user data. The Administration hopes that these additional measures will also better protect the privacy of users.
This follows Lina Khan’s confirmation as President of the FTC. Khan is a vocal Big Tech critic after first gaining attention as a Yale law student with an essay on Amazon’s Perceived Antitrust Violations.
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