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  2. February 2017

February 2017

Remarks of Chairman Pai at Mobile World Congress

In the United States, we are in the process of returning to the light-touch approach to regulation that produced tremendous investment and innovation throughout our entire Internet ecosystem—from the core of our networks to providers at the edge. Together, these policies—light-touch regulation, facilities-based competition, flexible use policy, and freeing up spectrum—have produced impressive results in the U.S. market...

After the Federal Communications Commission embraced utility-style regulation, the United States experienced the first-ever decline in broadband investment outside of a recession. But today, the torch at the FCC has been passed to a new generation, dedicated to renewal as well as change. We are confident in the decades-long, cross-party consensus on lighttouch Internet regulation—one that helped America’s digital economy thrive. And we are on track to returning to that successful approach.

Going forward, the FCC will not focus on denying Americans free data or issuing heavyhanded decrees inspired by the distant past. At the same time, however, we recognize that government does have a role to play when it comes to broadband. We will also create incentives to deploy broadband in parts of our country that private investment hasn’t yet reached. In short, America’s approach to broadband policy will be practical, not ideological. We will embrace what works and dispense with what doesn’t.

Former FCC Chairman Wheeler: Things are 'going the way I feared'

A month into the new Federal Communications Commission administration, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "It's going the way I feared." In particular, Wheeler points to the FCC taking steps to weaken network neutrality. As chairman, Wheeler slammed wireless companies like AT&T for violating net neutrality rules by letting customers stream content from its video service, DirecTV, without counting toward data plans. That effectively makes third-party video services more costly. But this month, the FCC dropped all investigations into the issue.

Chairman Ajit Pai's FCC also voted recently to undo a net neutrality transparency rule requiring smaller broadband providers to disclose details on data caps and fees. "Conservatives used to be against letting big companies determine who gets on the broadcast airwaves, but now they are for allowing big companies to determine who gets on the Internet [and] on what terms," Wheeler said. "It seems to me the lobbyists are winning out over core principles here," he added.

Here’s Why Net Neutrality is Essential in Trump's America

"Net neutrality is not simply about technology," said Steven Renderos, Organizing Director at the Center for Media Justice. "It's about the everyday people who use it and whether they will have the right to be heard online. Two years ago, the [Federal Communications Commission] affirmed that everyone, regardless of class or race, deserves access to a media platform that does not discriminate."

Without net neutrality, these corporate giants could slow down or even block rival services, not to mention the next generation of startups that depend on internet freedom. If these broadband titans are allowed the right to stifle online creativity and entrepreneurship, it could snuff out the very engine of innovation that has generated billions of dollars of US economic activity and created millions of jobs.

Q&A: Floyd Abrams on the battle for the soul of the First Amendment

A Q&A with attorney Floyd Abrams, who represented the New York Times in the 1971 Pentagon Papers case and went on to become America's leading First Amendment litigator.

Asked, "Shortly after the election, you said Donald Trump 'may be the greatest threat to the First Amendment since the passage of the Sedition Act of 1798.' Why is he a threat?" Abrams responded, "I don’t think we’ve had anyone who ran for the presidency in a manner which suggested the level of hostility to the press than did Donald Trump. And we certainly haven’t had any president who has made as a central element of his presentation while in office a critique of such venom and threat as we’ve heard in the last month. Now, we don’t know how much is talk and what if anything he may do as president apart from the impact of his words. That in and of itself is important. Any effort to delegitimize the press as a whole and any recitation of statements such the one just a few days ago, saying that the press “is the enemy of the American people,” itself raises serious issues even if he never took any legal steps against the press. Words matter. And the words of the president matter particularly. So a president that basically tells the people that the press is its enemy is engaged in a serious—and deliberately serious—threat to the legitimacy of the press and the role it plays in American society."

Trump Admin Promised to Shake up WH Media Traditions. One Month In, Spicer Delivers.

In his first month, Sean Spicer has led press briefings by digging in to talking points, sparring with reporters on challenging follow-ups, and shifting the way business is done inside the briefing room — whether the media likes it or not. Who gets called on? According to an analysis by Independent Journal Review, in the first month of the Trump administration, Spicer chose to call on Fox News and affiliate national networks (Fox Business Network, Fox News Radio) more than any other outlet. How long are the briefings? According to an analysis of Sean Spicer's first month of White House press briefings, on average, Spicer's briefings lasted 43 minutes. While these briefings are shorter than those held by Obama administration press secretaries, they tended to be longer than those held by George W. Bush administration officials.

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