FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has “real concerns” about...
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has “real concerns” about Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal on net neutrality, she told the chief officers of state library agencies Wednesday, according to prepared remarks (http://bit.ly/RslUvG). Rosenworcel called for a delay of at least one month…
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to give the agency time to consider how to proceed, and a broad Internet-based public outreach effort. Wheeler has acknowledged that all options are on the table, but “I have real concerns about process” given that the rules could lead to the creation of an “Internet fast lane,” Rosenworcel said. Wheeler’s proposal “has unleashed a torrent of public response” with tens of thousands of emails, hundreds of calls, and Internet-wide commentary that “we need to respect,” she said. “While I recognize the urgency to move ahead and develop rules with dispatch, I think the greater urgency comes in giving the American public opportunity to speak right now, before we head down this road.” The sunshine period, set to kick in Thursday, will mean the agency no longer accepts public comment, she said. “It’s a mistake to cut off public debate right now,” Rosenworcel said. “At a minimum, we should delay the onset of our Sunshine rules.” Because of a “challenging set of court decisions that have led us to this point,” the agency’s legal staff “should be holding forth, answering questions, and explaining what is before us with regular sessions -- not in Washington, but over the Internet, through social media, and broadly accessible to the public,” Rosenworcel said. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn posted a blog entry Wednesday saying her preferred net neutrality rules would ban pay-for-priority arrangements. “During the past few weeks, tens of thousands of consumers, companies, entrepreneurs, investors, schools, educators, healthcare providers and others have reached out to ask me to keep the Internet free and open,” Clyburn said (http://fcc.us/1jfDxd3). “While it is my normal practice not to comment in advance on items which are on circulation out of my deep respect for the integrity of our regulatory and administrative process, given the high level of attention and the outpouring of expression on the notice of proposed rulemaking on Open Internet, I felt it was important to highlight my previously stated views,” Clyburn said. When she voted to approve the 2010 net neutrality order, she made clear she would have applied the rules to mobile services, and she “would have prohibited pay for priority arrangements altogether,” Clyburn said. “There is no doubt that preserving and maintaining a free and open Internet is fundamental to the core values of our democratic society, and I have an unwavering commitment to its independence."