President Trump and technology: How it could affect net neutrality, broadband and more

We’ve heard about tech CEOs  meeting top Republicans at a secret meeting on an island to discuss how to stop Donald Trump. However, for many, their worst fears have come true. Donald Trump has been elected as the President of the United States of America. And, this leaves the Silicon Valley with many unanswered questions with a dash of uncertainty over several important issues, which not only affects the country, but extends to the rest of the world. Let’s quickly take a look at some of the key factors in technology as uncertainty looms. Net neutrality Suddenly, the future of net neutrality appears to be bleak. Rules laid down by the FCC on net neutrality had suggested a progressive wave back in 2015. The rules meant – no faster, paid Internet or throttling of speed. Obama has stressed on how it will help with a level-playing field. While many mock Trump for not even knowing what net neutrality actually means, he has made some statements in the past that clearly indicate how he has been against it. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/532608358508167168?lang=en Back in 2014, Ted Cuz also called it the Obamacare for Internet. Moreover, The Verge points out that Jeffrey Eisenach, a longtime critic of FCC regulation, has been roped in Trump’s presidential transition team. https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/531834493922189313 Many have already begun expressing concerns over weakened net neutrality rules. There has been fear of reversal of the 2015 policy that brought users net neutrality. “Under Trump, the FCC could open a new rulemaking that would reverse its 2015 decision to reclassify the internet as a utility. This would undermine the FCC’s net neutrality rules that prohibit internet providers from speeding up or slowing down access to certain websites and other discriminatory practices,” according to Recode. https://twitter.com/shalini/status/796413400867864584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%20 Is it time for open Internet activists and regulatory bodies to brace themselves for a bigger battle ahead? Broadband and set-top boxes It is believed that Trump administration could also mean limiting the expansion of broadband in America. An Engadget report points out that his plans for high-speed Internet with price-cuts for low income group in rural areas are ‘vague at best’. “Efforts like these largely rely on regulations, tax breaks and government programs to incentivise businesses to build out infrastructure and subsidise costs for the poor,” the report adds. Now, programs like Connect America, and Broadband Technology Opportunities among others aimed at bringing broadband to 100 percent households by 2020 seem to have an uncertain future, according to the report. However, Trump did mention to invest in infrastructure, though it was never specific to broadband. Moreover, there is said to be the possibility of Trump administration going easy on regulatory rules, and also offering tax incentives to attract companies to build broadband in rural areas. However, the report adds that the move may not necessarily reduce cost, and rather providers could be in a position to charge higher fees to consumers and show the level-playing field a backdoor with the possibly weakened net neutrality rules. FCC has been working on set-top box regulation, which haven’t gone as planned. Under Trump, its is quite possible that the enforcement of app-based rollout of pay-tv feeds could be thrown out of the window altogether. Tax policy Trump has promised slashing the tax rate to 10 percent to bring back money to US for investment locally. “More than $1.2tn of US corporate earnings kept overseas by companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Google to avoid significant tax deductions could be brought home, under plans by Donald Trump for a tax cut on repatriated profits,” Financial Times writes. Apple alone is believed to have $200bn stashed overseas. Though Apple may hate Trump for his outcry at banning Apple products, the company may sure agree with his tax reform that could led to it paying only 10 percent tax to repatriate overseas profits. Make in America! As we know, Trump wants to boost the country’s economy by asking companies to build their products back home. In a speech earlier this year, he said how he will make Apple build its ‘damn computers and other things’ in the US, instead of elsewhere. “We have such amazing people in this country: smart, sharp, energetic, they’re amazing. We’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries,” Trump had said. China offers world’s most sophisticated manufacturing infrastructure, and reports argue how manufacturing won’t be of great importance to the US economy, but rather may make things expensive for middle-class Americans. Meanwhile, he has been quite vocal about blaming India and China over ‘job theft’. In the past, Silicon Valley has pushed for more H1-B visas that allow foreign workers entry into the country, but Trump argues that visas bring cheap labor into the country, eventually denying jobs to qualified Americans. So, his plan is essentially to make companies pay H1-B employees higher. He has publicly criticised Zuckerberg over foreign visas. And, let’s not forget him mimicking the Indian call centre during the campaign.