Both the FCC and the FTC want to police your Internet provider

The Federal Trade Commission wrote to the Federal Communications Commission about how it regulates Internet service providers (ISPs). The FCC is exploring how best to encourage broadband providers to upgrade their networks, particularly in rural and low-income areas that aren't very well served. To that end, the agency asked the public to weigh in on whether ISPs have any legal obligations regarding privacy and security. The FTC has been making a name for itself on just these sorts of issues. The agency has gone after a number of tech companies for allegedly violating users' privacy in one way or another. So it wasn't a surprise to see the FTC write to the FCC.

What was surprising was to see the lines of power between the two agencies drawn so clearly. And while the filing was couched in a factual "here's where our authority ends and yours begins" kind of way, it was hard not to miss what might be called a little sibling rivalry. In the network neutrality fight, the FCC is debating whether it should place ISPs into the "common carriers" category. If it does, that would put broadband providers beyond the reach of the trade commission, for the most part.