Pallone Welcomes FTC Legal Victory, Seeks More Action; FTC Tweets Differ on Case Delay
A ruling upholding FTC authority over ISPs is a consumer win, but more should be done, said Frank Pallone, D-N.J., House Commerce Committee ranking member. He was reacting to a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Monday affirming commission jurisdiction over the non-common-carrier activities of common carriers (see 1802260031). "The FTC can and should take actions to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts by companies when they’re not acting as common carriers," said Pallone. "But this decision does not fix the hole created by Republicans who stopped the FCC from enforcing strong privacy and data security safeguards. Consumers still lack adequate protections without clear rules of the road.”
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The ruling "is a win for consumers and the internet ecosystem -- and it's especially important as part of the conversation on net neutrality," said a blog post Tuesday posted by the committee chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore: "As the Restoring Internet Freedom Order returns the FTC’s jurisdiction to police ISPs, including their privacy practices and anticompetitive behaviors, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling fully demonstrates the FTC’s power under the restored Title I internet service classification. When special interests and outside activists raise panic that rolling back 'net neutrality' allows companies to freely block, throttle, and harm consumers, it’s important to point to the FTC’s reaffirmed authority over both ISPs and tech companies to ensure consumers are protected."
FTC Democratic Commissioner Terrell McSweeny tweeted: "It is good a potentially gaping loophole in FTC jurisdiction is closed -- for now. But this FTC throttling case involves ATT’s conduct from 7 years ago -- which is like relying on dial up speed enforcement to protect #netneutrality. Clear rules are better." Acting FTC Chief Technologist Neil Chilson, who offers personal views, tweeted: "This is like saying that b/c one criminal case ended up at the Supreme Court, it is hard and slow to enforce criminal law. The overwhelming majority of FTC cases don't involve complex jurisdictional issues or appellate litigation and are resolved quickly."