O'Rielly Knocks TerraCom/YourTel Decree as Making Policy by Enforcement
The FCC Enforcement Bureau settlement with TerraCom and YourTel America Thursday "highlights the problem of making policy through enforcement actions," said Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a statement later that day. The companies agreed to jointly pay a $3.5 million civil…
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penalty and take actions to improve their data security practices, as part of a bureau order and consent decree to resolve an investigation of possible Lifeline USF customer privacy violations (see 1507090035). YourTel also agreed to improve its compliance with Lifeline eligibility and de-enrollment rules. "I am certain that attempts will be made to cite the Consent Decree as precedent for an entire industry even though it was the product of company-specific negotiations," O'Rielly said. "Other interested parties had no opportunity to comment at any point in time on the substance of the Commission’s claims or legal theories, but will now be forced to embrace the product of a closed and slanted process that will be portrayed as consensus practices and rules."