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Top Verizon lobbyist tells Congress to assert authority over FCC
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03/24/10 01:31 PM ET
Congress needs to take the lead in modernizing broadband laws, Verizon’s top lobbyist said today in a speech.
Tom Tauke, Verizon’s Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Policy and Communications, said it’s Congress’s job to clear up the controversy over whether the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to impose new regulations on the Internet. (Find his full remarks here.)
“We ought to have a rule of law for the Internet space,” he said. “Now our question is, what is that rule of law, who has the authority to enforce that rule of law, and what is the process to be used to come up with it.”
He continued, “What I do think is needed is for Congress to address the issue. Now is the time— they can’t keep putting it off. It’s important for consumers and for companies to believe they can get a quick answer if a question arises.”
The FCC is waiting on a court decision that will determine whether or not it had the authority to order Comcast to stop throttling Internet traffic to a file-sharing Web site in 2008.
If the court rules that the FCC does not have jurisdiction to impose so-called net neutrality regulations under the current classification of broadband, the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has indicated he will consider reclassifying broadband as a communications service, allowing the agency to assert more authority over it.
Tauke rejected that move. “If they did that, I will assure you it will end up back in court,” he said. “There is an entity that is supposed to address these questions. It’s the Congress. It should change the statute in order to reflect a changing world.”
Tauke argues that reclassifying broadband as a “Title II” communications service will not work because those rules were written for a the common-carrier telephone industry.
“Trying to fit what we’re doing today into a structure that was intended for a 1900s industry just doesn’t make sense in my mind,” he said.
Public interest groups immediately fired back at Tauke’s assertions, saying the FCC already has the authority to craft meaningful safeguards for broadband consumers and is much closer to doing so than Congress is.
“He argues the Title II rules are old, but so is the Constitution. Does that mean we throw those ideas out the window?” asked Matthew Wood, associate director of Media Access Project.
Tauke also questioned whether the FCC should be agency in charge of overseeing broadband-related matters.
“Some would prefer to have it at the Federal Trade Commission,” he said. “I don’t think the agency at this juncture is important. What’s important is what is the policy and what is the process for enforcing that policy.”
If the authority remains with the FCC, Tauke thinks the agency should take a more flexible, case-by-case rulemaking approach that “would be better suited to the Internet ecosystem than setting out rules by which you try to anticipate the market place 5 to 6 years from now.”
Tom Tauke, Verizon’s Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Policy and Communications, said it’s Congress’s job to clear up the controversy over whether the Federal Communications Commission has the authority to impose new regulations on the Internet. (Find his full remarks here.)
“We ought to have a rule of law for the Internet space,” he said. “Now our question is, what is that rule of law, who has the authority to enforce that rule of law, and what is the process to be used to come up with it.”
He continued, “What I do think is needed is for Congress to address the issue. Now is the time— they can’t keep putting it off. It’s important for consumers and for companies to believe they can get a quick answer if a question arises.”
The FCC is waiting on a court decision that will determine whether or not it had the authority to order Comcast to stop throttling Internet traffic to a file-sharing Web site in 2008.
If the court rules that the FCC does not have jurisdiction to impose so-called net neutrality regulations under the current classification of broadband, the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has indicated he will consider reclassifying broadband as a communications service, allowing the agency to assert more authority over it.
Tauke rejected that move. “If they did that, I will assure you it will end up back in court,” he said. “There is an entity that is supposed to address these questions. It’s the Congress. It should change the statute in order to reflect a changing world.”
Tauke argues that reclassifying broadband as a “Title II” communications service will not work because those rules were written for a the common-carrier telephone industry.
“Trying to fit what we’re doing today into a structure that was intended for a 1900s industry just doesn’t make sense in my mind,” he said.
Public interest groups immediately fired back at Tauke’s assertions, saying the FCC already has the authority to craft meaningful safeguards for broadband consumers and is much closer to doing so than Congress is.
“He argues the Title II rules are old, but so is the Constitution. Does that mean we throw those ideas out the window?” asked Matthew Wood, associate director of Media Access Project.
Tauke also questioned whether the FCC should be agency in charge of overseeing broadband-related matters.
“Some would prefer to have it at the Federal Trade Commission,” he said. “I don’t think the agency at this juncture is important. What’s important is what is the policy and what is the process for enforcing that policy.”
If the authority remains with the FCC, Tauke thinks the agency should take a more flexible, case-by-case rulemaking approach that “would be better suited to the Internet ecosystem than setting out rules by which you try to anticipate the market place 5 to 6 years from now.”
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