Former FTC Chair Takes Aim at State Broadband Bills

Former Obama-era Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz argued against a state bill creating its own network neutrality rules and regulations and Internet service provider contract terms and online privacy protections in the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's elimination of its own rules. According to his prepared testimony for a hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, Leibowitz said he recognized "the sky did not fall" when the FCC, during the Obama Administration, reclassified ISPs as Title II common carriers. But he said that reclassification did have costs to consumers, including diminished deployment of broadband, according to the FCC, as well as removing broadband consumer protection from the FTC's jurisdiction. Leibowitz said the FCC's Dec. 14 vote to reclassify ISPs back to the "light touch" regime of Title I will not result in a falling sky, either. Instead, he said, it will re-empower the FTC to protect broadband consumers and competition once again.