The Net Neutrality Quiet Period

sunshine’ period before the February 26 meeting that will see the agency vote on new net neutrality regulations. The sunshine period means that the FCC takes time away from external meetings on the topics it is going to vote on. Also, missives sent to the FCC during the period do not make it into the formal record of the issue.

That was the situation that saw a deluge of commentary this past week, as groups and Congress tried to get their final say in. Given that I hope you did not spend your past week or so, as I did, reading as many Hot Takes on the issue as I could, let’s go over some of the best, and the rest.

Commissioner Ajit Pai’s One-Man Army

Commissioner Ajit Pai held a press conference dinging Chairman Tom Wheeler’s net neutrality plan, followed by a fusillade of media appearances and other utterances. Given that Pai’s team, the Republican Party, is likely going to lose the upcoming vote, it appears to be his only method of registering dissent.

Some clippings:

Politico:

By: Unknown On 23:12

Continue Reading

For Net Neutrality, Political Theater

The FCC is moving on net neutrality. And past internal dissension at the agency, Congressional forces are lining up to mostly kick up dust and whine as the Commission readies to vote on stringent rules in under two weeks.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler initially intended to ground new net neutrality rules on Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. Later, he changed his mind, deciding that Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 was more appropriate. And in between the two, the President weighed in, advocating for use of Title II.
Insert controversy. The President, in his statement, made the following note:

By: Unknown On 12:06

Continue Reading

The FCC Bickers As Its Net Neutrality Vote Looms

It’s go time at the FCC, which is set to vote on new net neutrality regulations on February 26.
Today, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai held a press conference during which he repeatedly dinged the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for not releasing the more than 300-page proposal in question ahead of the vote. The proposal contains just eight pages of regulation; the rest discusses legal underpinnings and response to public comment. (You can watch the full confab here.)
Regarding the length of the document, a top FCC lawyer added a bit of context to the Scary Sounding Number:
To suggest length of #netneutrality order is synonymous w. heavy reg is misleading. 1) Actual regs are only 8 pages. #NNFacts
—
Gigi Sohn (

By: Unknown On 04:20

Continue Reading