Tom Wheeler: ISPs Wanted Internet Oversight to Get 'Lost' at FTC

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said broadband providers pushed for reclassification of internet access as a Title I service so that authority over their service could get put in the Federal Trade Commission and "lost" among all that agency's other responsibilities, which is what he said the Trump administration ended up doing. Of late, Wheeler has argued for creating a new expert agency, separate from the FTC or FCC, to oversee digital platforms. He said the current rules were built around industrial concepts that don't apply and it is time for a "new regulatory paradigm" that provides for both more agile regulation, which tech companies have asked for, while still protecting competition and consumers. He said the best way to do that was to start with a clean slate with a new set of expectations and procedures.