Imagine a crazy quilt-like patchwork of state regulations governing the internet – unquestionably, the most border-free platform ever known to humanity. It would be chaos, and a massive deterrent to investment, innovation, and growth.

If you think this is "fake news" from the deep and dark corners of the dark web, you will be surprised to learn it is where we could be headed if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not act to prevent this disaster by establishing a clear, nationwide regulatory framework that protects the free flow of information in cyber space.

President Donald J. Trump's savvy Chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, wisely wants to roll back Obama-era Title II net neutrality regulations. The 80-year-old so called Title II regulations were originally used to regulate railroads and then the Ma Bell telephone monopoly of the 1930's.

This rollback is a big step forward. It's almost laughable to believe Title II rules would be an effective North Star guiding the next chapter of internet advancements. The lunacy of applying old, rotary- dial telephone regulations on something so dynamic is self-evident. For the U.S. to remain at the forefront of high tech, we must return to the extremely effective framework for internet policy that was put in place under President Bill Clinton and continued by George W. Bush and allowed the Internet to flourish with a light-touch regulatory approach.

If Chairman Pai wants the Internet to continue to evolve, expand and flourish, he and his colleagues at the FCC have the crucial obligation to preemptively guard against online activists who are poised to unleash a torrent of harmful state-level legislation.