Clocker
03-16-2015, 12:00 PM
The FCC released a 400 page order that basically says that they are assuming authority to subject internet providers to the same regulation imposed on wireline telephone companies under the Communications Act of 1934.
Asked about the scope of that authority, the FCC chairman said he didn't know.
Besides broadband, the order covers virtually every activity on the Internet under a new “general conduct rule.” Asked at a press conference what this means, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler replied: “We don’t really know. We don’t know where things will go next. We have created a playing field where there are known rules, and the FCC will sit there as a referee and will throw the flag.”
The order admits the FCC doesn’t know what many of its new rules mean. The order says the agency will “watch, learn, and act as required . . . a process that is sure to bring greater understanding to the commission.”
Well, bringing "greater understanding to the commission" is certainly to be hoped for. The FCC consists of 5 Commissioners, currently 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans. One out-spoken GOP Commissioner said that there had been no plans by the FCC to do anything this far reaching until they were recently told by Obama to do so. The FCC is supposedly an independent body, not subject to presidential authority.
The Federal Communications Commission last week finally revealed the specifics of its plan to micromanage the Internet as a monopoly utility. In his dissent, Republican commissioner Ajit Pai explained the agency’s rejection of the open Internet after 20 years of bipartisan support:
“Why is the FCC turning its back on Internet freedom? Is it because we now have evidence that the Internet is not open? No. Is it because we have discovered some problem with our prior interpretation of the law? No. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason alone. President Obama told us to do so.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/gordon-crovits-obamanets-regulatory-farrago-1426457509
Asked about the scope of that authority, the FCC chairman said he didn't know.
Besides broadband, the order covers virtually every activity on the Internet under a new “general conduct rule.” Asked at a press conference what this means, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler replied: “We don’t really know. We don’t know where things will go next. We have created a playing field where there are known rules, and the FCC will sit there as a referee and will throw the flag.”
The order admits the FCC doesn’t know what many of its new rules mean. The order says the agency will “watch, learn, and act as required . . . a process that is sure to bring greater understanding to the commission.”
Well, bringing "greater understanding to the commission" is certainly to be hoped for. The FCC consists of 5 Commissioners, currently 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans. One out-spoken GOP Commissioner said that there had been no plans by the FCC to do anything this far reaching until they were recently told by Obama to do so. The FCC is supposedly an independent body, not subject to presidential authority.
The Federal Communications Commission last week finally revealed the specifics of its plan to micromanage the Internet as a monopoly utility. In his dissent, Republican commissioner Ajit Pai explained the agency’s rejection of the open Internet after 20 years of bipartisan support:
“Why is the FCC turning its back on Internet freedom? Is it because we now have evidence that the Internet is not open? No. Is it because we have discovered some problem with our prior interpretation of the law? No. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason alone. President Obama told us to do so.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/gordon-crovits-obamanets-regulatory-farrago-1426457509