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Democratic Reps are hammering Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai over his decision to cut nine companies from a program that provides subsidized internet service to low-income people. Forty-one Reps, including Reps Ro Khanna (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Ron Kind (D-WI), signed a letter saying that Chairman Pai’s move would hurt poor communities. “Your action will hurt those in our country that need the most help,” they wrote. “Your arbitrary decision will hurt poor children and widen the digital divide.” The House letter follows one sent on Feb 10 from 15 Democratic Sens that also blasted the decision. House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) blasted the decision earlier in Feb, calling it a “baseless action.”

President Donald Trump said the “real story” of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation was “illegal leaks,” rather than reports Flynn misled senior White House officials about his conversations with Russia. "The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal with N.Korea etc?" President Trump tweeted. The White House announced Flynn's resignation Feb 13, the culmination of weeks of controversy surrounding alleged communications with Russia.

The Internet Association, a trade group representing internet giants including Facebook and Google, is launching a new online political fundraising platform. The program will allow people to ask candidates selected by the group questions and donate money to the association's political action committee to help that candidate. Users will be able to submit questions to lawmakers in livestreamed question-and-answer sessions hosted by the Internet Association. Donations made through the system will be transferred directly to the candidate, and by law will be subject to a contribution limit of $2,700 per election cycle.

“Just as our member companies have done for countless industries, the Internet Association has set out to revolutionize political fundraising,” Michael Beckerman, the group’s CEO, said in a statement. “This fundamentally internet-based approach will democratize political giving — a process traditionally characterized by exclusivity and an overall lack of transparency — and convert it to a public forum that provides everyday internet voters with the ability to participate in a meaningful way.” The new platform will allow the lobbying group to channel crowdsourced fundraising toward lawmakers supported by the internet industry. Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), a member of House GOP leadership, will be the first to participate and will be answering questions submitted to the platform on Feb 15.

Republicans in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission may have to make some tough decisions soon on how to tackle the Obama administration's landmark network neutrality rules.

At this early stage, it's unclear whether Republicans and Democrats in Congress will work out a legislative solution to the battle over the net neutrality rules that went into effect in 2015. Both sides have interests in putting a compromise into law. Some Republicans worry that actions FCC Chairman Ajit Pai could take to roll back the rules could just be reversed under a future Democratic administration. And Democrats may want to shore up the net neutrality principles in the meantime against a broader rollback. But a compromise is already proving to be a hard sell in some quarters. Democrats vowed to combat any attempts to pare back net neutrality. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has yet to reveal how he's going to handle going after the net neutrality rules, which he has criticized for reclassifying internet service providers to treat broadband as a public utility.

[Commentary] Unlike the Federal Communications Commission’s previous head, new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is putting consumers first, not network neutrality. The sad reality is that the previous FCC did the bidding of the biggest edge providers, both on the issue of net neutrality and opening up the cable box market.

Net neutrality began as a bipartisan, unanimous FCC policy statement in 2005 that ensured consumers could competitively access and use the legal content, apps, and devices of their choice, subject to reasonable network management. In 2009, net neutrality ceased being about consumers, and all about edge providers, when Professor Tim Wu, the one who coined the term “net neutrality,” redefined it to become about consumers economically subsidizing edge providers. By replacing Title II net neutrality price regulation with free market competition that naturally puts customers in charge, Chairman Pai can reverse mistakes made during the Obama administration, and bring a truly pro-consumer focus back to his agency.

[Scott Cleland is president of Precursor LLC and chairman of NetCompetition.]

A technology consumer group is urging the new administration to halt federal guidelines that encourage cellphone and electronic device makers to design products to minimize the potential for driver distraction. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) argues that even though the guidelines are voluntary, they “could have a sweeping effect on the multibillion-dollar market for mobile devices and apps.” In December 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) called for the creation of a “driver mode” for smartphones and other portable devices that drivers can use while operating their vehicle. The goal is to curb road deaths and injuries resulting from smartphone-based distractions, such as texting, phone calls and social media.

But some technology groups ripped the guidelines as a regulatory overreach and pointed out that auto and tech companies have already created driver-assist technologies and apps that help reduce distractions. “CTA shares NHTSA's concerns about the hazards of distracted driving,” the CTA said in a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “However, we believe that the Phase 2 Guidelines takes the wrong approach to this important issue, both in substance and by impermissibly reaching beyond NHTSA's statutory authority under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act."

Ajit Pai, the new Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is quickly making his mark on the agency, shaking up its operations and rolling back Obama-era initiatives. His moves have drawn Republican praise but alarmed Democrats and consumer groups and set the stage for the fights ahead.

Gigi Sohn, a former aide to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, said Pai's moves were a severe blow to the Lifeline program and saw it as a call to action. "The way you undermine this program without doing anything too drastic would be to not let any other providers participate, which would drive the prices up," said Sohn. “He uses the process reforms as a smokescreen to try to steer people away from the fact that he is dismantling pro-consumer, pro-competitive and pro-social policies from the previous administration.”

Two key Senate Republicans say they are open to a bipartisan legislative compromise on network neutrality, but their effort faces skepticism from both parties.

Since the election, Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chairman of a Commerce subcommittee on the internet, have said they are willing to work on a measure that keeps the core of the controversial internet rules, but also allows Congress to limit the Federal Communications Commission's powers. Some opponents think it would be easiest to undo the rules through the FCC, where Republicans have a majority. But under that approach, net neutrality could just be restored when Democrats take back the White House, some say. That uncertainty has many in the tech world hoping Congress can craft lasting rules and has Chairmen Thune and Wicker believing they have an opening.

But many Democrats are also openly skeptical of a legislative fix.

[Commentary] Few lawmakers could have envisioned how the world has changed since Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which promoted competition and lifted some regulations, allowing phone, cable TV and media companies to transform their business models to compete head to head. Just 20 million American adults had access to the Internet back then, through dial-up services like America Online, CompuServe or Prodigy.

While we have seen great progress and opportunity from broadband connectivity, we need updated telecom laws to acknowledge the dramatically shifting lines of competition, to clarify the rules of the road for internet providers and ensure that consumers and businesses continue to enjoy the benefits from our increasingly connected world. The Telecom Act was a remarkable success story but to keep our innovation economy moving, American consumers deserve a blockbuster sequel.

[Jonathan Spalter is USTelecom President & CEO]

The Senate Commerce Committee announced that it will hold the next oversight hearing for the Federal Communications Commission on March 8. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) used the announcement to praise FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for steering the commission in a more conservative direction since he took over in January. “Under Chairman Pai’s leadership, the FCC has the opportunity to chart a path away from heavy-handed intervention in competitive markets and work collaboratively with Congress to create a modern regulatory agency that better meets the needs of consumers,” Chairman Thune said. "The FCC has already taken steps towards increased transparency under Chairman Pai and I would like to see that continue. At our hearing, committee members will have a forum to ask the commissioners about issues facing the FCC that impact Americans.”