The FCC on Tuesday approved net neutrality rules under Title I of the Communications Act, over scathing dissents by Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker. Democrats Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn also lobbed criticisms at the rules, saying they do not go far enough. The vote, after weeks of negotiations and months of build-up, was anticlimactic, since Copps and Clyburn had announced Monday they would not oppose the order.
The FCC on Tuesday approved net neutrality rules under Title I of the Communications Act, over scathing dissents by Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker. Democrats Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn also lobbed criticisms at the rules, saying they do not go far enough. The vote, after weeks of negotiations and months of build-up, was anticlimactic, since Copps and Clyburn had announced Monday they would not oppose the order.
The posting of about 3,000 pages of documents in the FCC net neutrality docket, days before a vote on an order set for Tuesday, is unusual and not a good practice for any agency, said administrative law professors and former commissioners not involved in the policy debate. The Wireline Bureau posted about 2,000 pages Dec. 10 and 1,000 more Tuesday. The documents contain information that was publicly available, but not all of it had been filed in docket 09-191.
The posting of about 3,000 pages of documents in the FCC net neutrality docket, days before a vote on an order set for Tuesday, is unusual and not a good practice for any agency, said administrative law professors and former commissioners not involved in the policy debate. The Wireline Bureau posted about 2,000 pages Dec. 10 (CD Dec 11 p1) and 1,000 more Tuesday (CD Dec 15 p8). The documents contain information that was publicly available, but not all of it had been filed in docket 09-191.
FCC approval of net neutrality rules at Tuesday’s meeting is not a done deal, commission officials acknowledged this week. There remains a “distinct possibility” that the order could “blow up,” a source said. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a member of the Commerce Committee, asked the FCC commissioners to cancel their scheduled vote and respond to his office by noon Friday. In an unusual step, Rogers had the letter hand-delivered to each commissioner’s office Thursday.
FCC approval of net neutrality rules at Tuesday’s meeting is not a done deal, commission officials acknowledged this week. There remains a “distinct possibility” that the order could “blow up,” a source said. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a member of the Commerce Committee, asked the FCC commissioners to cancel their scheduled vote and respond to his office by noon Friday. In an unusual step, Rogers had the letter hand-delivered to each commissioner’s office Thursday.
A review by career FCC staffers of Comcast’s planned purchase of control of NBC Universal is intensifying, said agency and public interest officials outside the negotiations. They said commission staffers and executives of the companies continue to discuss conditions for possible approval, and an order may circulate soon. Ex parte filings show that FCC and Justice Department staffers reviewing the deal have in recent days been talking about possible conditions (CD Dec 13 p9). The talks appear to be intensifying and may end soon with a proposed order from the Media Bureau, said officials inside the commission and out. Antitrust experts and analysts have predicted the deal will be approved, with many conditions.
The WikiLeaks affair is agonizing leaders of public interest and media rights groups, they said in interviews. “This is the most emotionally trying and draining” clash of First Amendment rights, government prerogatives and other interests that Lucy Dalglish said she has confronted in the 11 years she’s been executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Career FCC staffers’ work on drafting an order on Comcast’s plan to buy control of NBC Universal may not result in the deal’s being approved as quickly as had been expected, because of the agency’s attention to net neutrality, said many agency and industry officials watching the review. They said staff work appears to be far along on the multibillion dollar deal, and ex parte filings indicate that the companies in the deal are discussing possible conditions on it. Conditions don’t seem to have been settled, agency and industry officials said. Chairman Julius Genachowski had at one point reportedly hoped to have an entire draft of the order available around Thanksgiving (CD Nov 5 p3).
Seven groups and companies seeking net neutrality rules met Monday at the FCC with Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus, a member of one of the groups told us. Senior Vice President Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, a member of the Open Internet Coalition, said the coalition was represented by its executive director, Markham Erickson. Erickson didn’t reply to a message seeking comment. Also there, Schwartzman said, were Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge, Jeff Blum of Sling, Joel Kelsey of Free Press, Parul Desai of Consumers Union, Leslie Harris of the Center for Democracy & Technology and Chris Libertelli of Skype. The groups said the FCC should reclassify broadband as a Title II service. NCTA confirmed that it, AT&T and Verizon were represented at a meeting with Lazarus earlier Monday (CD Nov 23 p1) . They discussed issues including nondiscrimination and reasonable network management and their application to wireless, a filing posted Tuesday to docket 09-191 said. AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi, also at the meeting involving the service providers, separately asked Lazarus to use the model for agreement on net neutrality from outgoing House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to resolve to issue at the FCC, another filing said. Regulators should “explore alternative methods by which the Commission can ensure Internet openness while it pursues the goals of the National Broadband Plan,” AT&T said. MPAA said chief Bob Pisano on Monday discussed separately with Lazarus “the need for flexible content delivery arrangements between content owners and ISPs, and the ability to employ tools and techniques designed to combat theft of copyrighted materials."