The FCC under the Biden administration directive will move to outlaw early termination fees on cable and satellite service contracts.

Chelsey Cox reporting for CNBC:

The proposed rule is part of the White House’s larger focus on eliminating surplus fees under President Joe Biden’s July 2021 executive order to promote competition in the U.S. economy.

According to that order, cable television is one sector where fees can stifle competition, due to costs associated with canceling services or switching service providers.

“Companies shouldn’t lock you into services you don’t want with large fees,” President Joe Biden said via X on Tuesday. “It’s unfair, raises costs, and stifles competition. We’re doing something about it.”

Another win for the US consumer and a huge step in breaking the existing abusive cable, cellular and satellite monopolies.

This is in stark contrast to what the Trump administration FCC chairmen Ajit Pai who advocated not only strengthening the existing monopoly infrastructure, but ending net neutrality. Under Pai’s plan, cable and infrastructure operaters would be free to not only have surplus and termination fees, but would be abe to charge different rates depending on what services you used on the internet. For example, accessing websites would be billed at a different rate then say streaming video content. This would have effectively ended the internet as we know it today.

Another meaningful law passed that will benefit the ‘average american’. Elections have consequences.