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posted by takyon on Saturday February 04 2017, @05:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the transparent-and-neutral dept.

FCC Tries Something New: Making Proposals Public Before Voting on Them

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai yesterday announced a seemingly simple step to make the FCC's rulemaking process more open to the public: the FCC intends to release the full text of rulemakings before they're voted on instead of days after the vote.

Pai and fellow Republican Michael O'Rielly repeatedly complained about the secrecy of rulemakings when Democrat Tom Wheeler was chairman. Wheeler followed the practice of previous chairs by publicly releasing a summary of the proposed rules a few weeks before the FCC's meetings, while negotiations over the final text of orders continued behind closed doors. The actual text of rulemakings wasn't released until after the vote. In the case of net neutrality, Pai complained three weeks before the vote that he couldn't share the full text of the draft order with the public. The full text wasn't released until two weeks after the vote.

"Today, we begin the process of making the FCC more open and transparent," Pai said yesterday. He then released the text of two proposals scheduled for a vote at the commission's meeting on February 23, one on allowing TV broadcasters to use the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard and another on "giving AM radio broadcasters more flexibility in siting their FM translators."

[...] This would certainly make it easier for journalists to report on the impacts of rulemakings before they're voted on. Congressional Republicans pressed Wheeler to make releasing the text of orders in advance a standard practice, and there is pending legislation that would make it a requirement. But Wheeler said during his chairmanship that such a practice would cause long delays in rulemakings. Wheeler told Republicans in Congress in May 2015 that making the full text public in advance could make it easier for opponents to kill proposals they don't like.

[...] While Pai hasn't yet committed to making the pre-vote release of orders permanent, O'Rielly said he's confident that the pilot project will go smoothly. "If this initial attempt goes well—and I see no reason why it wouldn't—I think we will all find this to be a significant upgrade in terms of quality of feedback, quality of process, and ultimately quality of the commission's work product," O'Rielly said. O'Rielly acknowledged that the change "may make our jobs a bit more challenging," but he added that "it is the right thing to do for the American people, the practitioners before the commission and the professional press who report on commission activities."

Source:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/fcc-tries-something-new-making-proposals-public-before-voting-on-them/

FCC Rescinds Claim That AT&T and Verizon Violated Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission's new Republican leadership has rescinded a determination that AT&T and Verizon Wireless violated net neutrality rules with paid data cap exemptions. The FCC also rescinded several other Wheeler-era reports and actions. The FCC released its report on the data cap exemptions (aka "zero-rating") in the final days of Democrat Tom Wheeler's chairmanship. Because new Chairman Ajit Pai opposed the investigation, the FCC has now formally closed the proceeding.

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau sent letters to AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile USA notifying the carriers "that the Bureau has closed this inquiry. Any conclusions, preliminary or otherwise, expressed during the course of the inquiry will have no legal or other meaning or effect going forward." The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau also sent a letter to Comcast closing an inquiry into the company's Stream TV cable service, which does not count against data caps.

The FCC issued an order that "sets aside and rescinds" the Wheeler-era report on zero-rating. All "guidance, determinations, and conclusions" from that report are rescinded, and it will have no legal bearing on FCC proceedings going forward, the order said.

[...] Pai opposed Wheeler's zero-rating investigation, saying that free data offerings are "popular among consumers precisely because they allow more access to online music, videos, and other content free of charge." He has also vowed to overturn the FCC's net neutrality rules and hasn't committed to enforcing them while they remain in place. "While this is just a first step, these companies, and others, can now safely invest in and introduce highly popular products and services without fear of commission intervention based on newly invented legal theories," Republican FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said today.

Source:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/fcc-rescinds-claim-that-att-and-verizon-violated-net-neutrality/


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:03PM (#463101)

    Have you ever asked yourself why Clinton revoked his own order? Or why Obama undermined his? These people were career politicians and incredibly corrupt. They grinded their way up to the top through the 'establishment' and that includes a countless number of favors, debts, and reciprocations. Trump differs from them in at least one enormous way. He went from political zero to president. He's certainly no angel, but he is also not politically indebted. He earned the presidency with everybody, even the republican party, actively trying to undermine him. It's the first time the public has overcome the 'system' in many years.

    The text of the order is great so why reinvent the wheel? Will Trump consciously screw America over on the way out like all presidents for decades have been doing? Maybe, but I think for now at least there's no reason to think that other than bias against him.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 06 2017, @04:02AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 06 2017, @04:02AM (#463287)

    He went from political zero to president. He's certainly no angel, but he is also not politically indebted

    Which is why he paid back mitch mcconnell by installing his wife as secretary of transportation.

    Letting them beccome lobbyists has nothing to do with owing anything to the party and everything with owing a debt to the people he's relied on. Hell, look at Corey Lewandowski, that guy is already a lobbyist [politico.com] based on nothing more than his access to trump.

    Trump owes tons of people. Furthermore his single biggest qualifier for hiring people is "loyalty" - and that's a two way street. He's going to pay back everybody in his administration and the easiest way for him to do that will be let them make a ton of money farming the swamp.

    You are just being willfully blind. You've got a narrative of trump as some uberman when he's actually more dependent on the people around him ("I hire the best guys") than other presidents.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 06 2017, @09:12AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 06 2017, @09:12AM (#463361)

      You don't find imply her selection for the role is because she is "Mitch McConnell's wife" as even slightly misleading? This [wikipedia.org] is the Wiki page on "Mitch McConnell's wife." An immigrant from rough conditions to a Harvard MBA with decades of political experience and leadership, years of public service, and more. I find what you just did here as about as classy as the people who chose to refer to Hillary as "Bill Clinton's wife" as opposed to her own person with her own accomplishments. Your statement is not misogynistic, but many of the politically correct folks would call it that. This sort of doublethink has become a major problem in modern politics alongside judging people based on speculation and strawmen.