From the “Vast Wasteland” to “Net Neutrality”

[Commentary] Although he only served as Federal Communications Commission Chairman for about two years, Newton Minow was extraordinarily successful as a legislative collaborator. The current FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler, like Minow, is an activist agency head appointed by a Democratic President. Chairman Wheeler’s prior leadership as head of the National Cable Television Association established his reputation as a creative legislative thinker. He worked closely with Congress when it enacted the first-ever national law covering cable television. Chairman Wheeler also is a published history scholar, which may have special resonance as he looks for wise examples from the past that might guide the FCC in reaching a timely resolution for its open Internet rules. By looking back to the future, the FCC is well positioned to engage with Congress to develop an approach that is mutually satisfactory to legislators and regulators. Chairman Wheeler, like Chairman Minow, understands that the “public interest” is a powerful mandate in the Communications Act of 1934. Today, the “public interest” as it refers to network neutrality would best be served by a bipartisan spirit committed to cooperation between Congress and the independent regulatory agency that it oversees.

[Stuart Brotman is a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute]