Sohn: FCC Authority is Key to Compromise Net Neutrality Bill

Gigi Sohn, former adviser to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, supports legislation to clarify the FCC's authority over broadband, but that unless that bill returns oversight of the market to the FCC, that is not likely to happen. She said the fight over such legislation will hinge on whether the FCC is going to oversee the market. Under the current deregulatory framework approved by the Republican-controlled FCC and upheld by a federal court, oversight is primarily by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, which Sohn said won't cut it. She argued that the court said the FCC had "barely" made the argument that the FTC and antitrust law can protect consumers--and the court was only ruling on whether a decision based on that argument was arbitrary and capricious, not whether it was the right one. Sohn said she does not believe the antitrust laws or the FTC are adequate and that is why there needs to be an expert agency.

[Sohn is the Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]