Dive Brief:

• With Trump’s inauguration a little more than a month away, the Federal Communications Commission’s stance on internet regulation is likely to change as reported by Fortune.
• Policy changes could include undoing what FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly described as “harmful policies” the current commission adopted. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said the agency should propose fewer new actions and look to Congress for guidance along with eliminating unneeded rules.
• Fortune reported that O’Rielly said it was a mistake for the FCC to micromanage the internet economy and should revisit rules against cross-ownership of media.

Dive Insight:

The latest comments from the FCC are likely to be welcome news for the tech, telecommunications and marketing industries. A number of FCC proposals under the Obama administration have been viewed as overly burdensome to business and out of touch with how the internet is used. For example, these industries recently pushed back against a new privacy rule regarding data-driven advertising that threatens to limit behavioral targeting.

On the other hand, many of the FCC's proposals were welcomed by privacy groups, who are concerned over the perceived cavalier attitude by industry to consumers' sensitive data in the digital age. 

The comments by O'Rielly and Pai follow  an open letter to Trump that was penned last month by the Internet Association, underscoring the internet's significant contribution to the U.S. economy and outlining policy areas that are key to its continued growth. 

If the FCC were to reconsider rules against cross-ownership of media, this could pave the way for AT&T's proposed merger with Time Warner to go through and open the door to further consolidation in the media space. However, Trump is also on the record as saying that his administration would not support the AT&T, Time Warner merger, meaning more time may be needed before there is a clearer picture of where the administration will stand on mega mergers. 

Some of the FCC rules affecting the internet that could change include strict privacy rules on internet service providers that aren’t imposed on tech platforms and websites like Facebook, a 2015 ruling that reclassified broadband service as a public utility as part of net neutrality, and a newly Republican led commission would stop action on some rulemaking currently in the pipeline.