O'Rielly Slams State ISP Privacy Rules, Compares FCC to ALEC

discussed both with Chairman Ajit Pai. More than 10 states are mulling ISP privacy bills responding to President Donald Trump and Congress for using the Congressional Review Act to kill FCC privacy rules (see 1705050042). “It is both impractical and very harmful for each state to enact differing and conflicting privacy burdens on broadband providers, many of which serve multiple states, if not the entire country," said Pai. "If necessary, the Commission should be willing to issue the requisite decision to clarify the jurisdictional aspects of this issue.” O’Rielly slammed the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, which is battling with Charter over VoIP classification in U.S. District Court in St. Paul (see 1704040043): “Such inappropriate jurisdictional overreaches by states should be nipped in the bud.” O’Rielly, the federal chair of the Joint Board on Separations, acknowledged the FCC hasn’t made a clear statement about VoIP jurisdiction. “The commission should have just declared VoIP to be an interstate information service,” he said. “Arguably, VoIP is just an application not even subject to FCC jurisdiction much less that of individual states.” O’Rielly railed against what he sees as a “progressive agenda” to “vanquish capitalism and economic liberty.” He compared the FCC to ALEC, a conservative group that progressive groups criticized for allegedly writing bills on behalf of big firms: “Like ALEC, the new commission is facing its share of unwarranted and inappropriate criticism.” In revisiting net neutrality with an NPRM to be considered at the commissioners' May 18 meeting, the FCC aims to return to “its previous approach to broadband that enabled staggering innovation, creativity, competition, disruption and consumer benefit,” the commissioner said. The 2015 net neutrality rules weren’t necessary, he said. “All of the propaganda in the world cannot paper over the fact that these new burdens were not in response to actual marketplace events but hypothetical concerns dreamt up by radical activists.” O’Rielly cheered ALEC’s opposition to municipal broadband. “It would be easy, as some have done, to blindly support any means necessary to get more and faster broadband to people they represent,” he said. He said he’s “very aware that many homes in America do not have acceptable broadband today” -- that’s why he wants to modernize USF: “This, I believe is a defensible program and one that we seek to inject with as many market driven aspects as possible, including operating reverse auctions to minimize and narrow the amount of subsidy provided.”