Net neutrality advocate convicted of death threats against FCC Chairman Pai

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A California man was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to threatening to kill the family of U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai in connection with the body’s successful bid to repeal net neutrality rules.

The Justice Department said 33-year-old Markara Man of Norwalk, California, sent the threatening email “in hopes of causing (Pai) to change his position on net neutrality.”

The FCC did not immediately comment on the case following the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In December 2017, the FCC, under Pai’s leadership, repealed the landmark net neutrality law, which required internet service providers to provide users equal access to all data, regardless of its type, source or destination.

Net neutrality rules prohibited providers from blocking or slowing down internet content or offering paid “fast lanes.”

The rule change has been a success for internet service providers such as Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, but has been opposed by companies including Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company.

When Markara pleaded guilty in September 2018, Pai thanked law enforcement and the FCC for protecting him and his family, adding, “I am deeply grateful for everything they have done to keep us safe.”

In November 2018, Tyler Barriss pleaded guilty to making a bomb threat to the FCC during the December 2017 meeting at which the FCC was voting to repeal net neutrality.

(Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Richard Chang)