The following statement may be attributed to Free State Foundation President Randolph May:
“I’ve been involved in communications law and policy for four decades now, and I have no hesitation in saying that Ajit Pai has been one of the most consequential FCC Chairman that I have observed. As Chairman Pai said in the announcement of his impending departure, he has “not shied away from making tough choices.” Pai fought — and, indeed, he had to fight — to reduce regulation where it was no longer needed in light of marketplace and technological developments, and he led the way in taking important actions to help get broadband deployed in unserved areas. Perhaps most consequential of all was Pai’s leadership, supported by his colleagues Commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr, in reversing the Obama FCC’s imposition of public utility-like regulation on Internet providers. The idea that broadband providers should be regulated under the same common carrier regime as Ma Bell and legacy voice telephone companies doesn’t make sense.
There were occasions, unfortunately, when Chairman Pai and his family were subject to nasty personal attacks because of the positions he took, for example, in leading the Commission to adopt the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. This should never have happened and shouldn’t happen again. But Chairman Pai didn’t back down. Rather he responded to those unjustifiable attacks with grace and aplomb. That’s a worthy legacy too."
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