Trump Plan Will Strip FCC of Consumer Protection Powers The incoming Trump administration is preparing to gut the FCC as a broadband and consumer watchdog. Telecom trade magazine Multichannel News says it has obtained a Trump team blueprint for the Trump FCC agenda, and it includes largely defanging and defunding the FCC as a consumer protection agency. The efforts square with the agenda already made abundantly clear by the GOP and the agency's two remaining Republican commissioners, Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly.

Rielly, Pai, and three of Trump's telecom advisors (four, if you include Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn) have made no secret of their plan to defund and defund the agency, strip back net net neutrality and eliminate the agency's new broadband privacy rules for consumers. Republic wireless founder David Morken recently joined the Trump transition team, appearing to be one of the only advisors that actually supports retaining net neutrality rules and increasing funding for the agency. It's far from clear if he'll have much impact on the blindly deregulatory majority, however. The plan itself claims the goal is to pare down the FCC to "better reflect the convergence of the digital age" to create a "a more coherent and streamlined" agency that "would more effectively serve the goals of consumers, competitors, and Congress." But consumer advocates say that's a smokescreen for the real agenda: weaken regulatory oversight of some of the least competitive -- and least liked -- companies in America. The goal? One thing and one thing only: protect duopoly revenues. Harold Feld, lawyer for consumer advocacy firm Public Knowledge, tells Ars Technica that the plan is "a declaration of war on the most basic principles of universal service, consumer protection, competition, and public safety that have been the bipartisan core of the Communications Act for the last 80+ years." Feld goes on to state the plan will "poison the well for any serious effort to update the Communications Act." The GOP has long made it clear it intends to rewrite the Communications Act with an eye on weakening the FCC as consumer watchdog as well. Said rewrite will also likely attempt to eliminate the current FCC rules, but putting rules in place that will likely be notably weaker than even the existing, flawed rules. "This level of radical restructuring makes the 1996 [Communications Act update] look trivial," Feld says of Trump and the GOP's plan. While the gutting of regulatory oversight of companies like Comcast is sure to be dressed up as "populist reform" (and met by thunderous applause by the violently misinformed) the end result isn't going to be pretty. While deregulation works in more competitive sectors, historically it only makes problems worse for consumers in the broken, non competitive telecom market. Just ask former FCC boss turned top cable lobbyist Mike Powell, whose blindly-deregulating tenure helped create the Comcast most customers currently know and love. As prices soar, service gets even worse, and net neutrality rules are gutted misdirection and disinformation may work for a while, but ultimately most consumers will realize precisely who will be to blame for this new, industry-friendly paradigm. As prices soar, service gets even worse, and net neutrality rules are gutted misdirection and disinformation may work for a while, but ultimately most consumers will realize precisely who will be to blame for this new, industry-friendly paradigm.







News Jump Are The Comcast-Charter X1 Talks Dead In The Water?; AT&T May Offer Phone Plans With Ads For Discounts; + more news Europe's Top Court: Net Neutrality Rules Bar Zero Rating; ViacomCBS To Rebrand CBS All Access As Paramount+; + more news Verizon To Buy Reseller TracFone For $7B; 5G Not The Competitive Threat To Cable Many Thought It Would Be; + more news MS.Wants Records From AT&T On $300M Project; Google Fiber Outages In Austin, Houston, Other Texan Cities; + more news States With The Biggest Decreases In Speed; AT&T Hopes You'll Forget Its Fight Against Accurate Maps; + more news AT&T's CEO Has A Familiar $olution To US Broadband Woes; EarthLink Files Suit Against Charter; + more news 5G Doesn't Live Up To Hype, AT&T's 5G Slower Than Its 4G; Cord-Cutting Now In 37% of Broadband Households; + more news FCC Cited False Broadband Data Despite Warnings; ZTE, Huawei Replacement Cost Is $1.87B, But Only $1B Allocated; + more Cogeco Rejects Altice USA's Atlantic Broadband Bid; AT&T Is Astroturfing The FCC In Support Of Trump Attack; + more news Big CBRS Auction Winners: Verizon, Windstream, Dish, Cablecos; Altice USA makes play for Atlantic Broadband; + more news ---------------------- this week last week most discussed

Most recommended from 178 comments



maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 29 recommendations maartena Premium Member This doesn't surprise me. Trump has always sided with the corporations on everything. Anyone who thought that the FCC would be different, is a fool.



But no, the people voted on their emotions. They wanted a wall (that Mexico isn't going to pay for), they wanted to "drain the swamp" in Washington (and put Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs exec at the top level positions), they wanted Clinton arrested (even though a high-schooler that just learned about the constitution and the branches of government could have told you that Trump can't even do that), they wanted their coal jobs back (which is not going to happen...). Oh and with all that, they rather strip 30 million Americans from their health insurance under Obamacare than come up with a proper plan to replace it.



If you really thought that the Trump administration was going to care about customers when it comes to internet and cable television matters..... you are either dumber than you thought yourself, or you considered it an acceptable compromise for the demise of Obamacare, the glorious wall he will build, or to put Clinton in jail.



Good luck with that. chgo_man99

join:2010-01-01

San Jose, CA 13 recommendations chgo_man99 Member Here we go... Our babysitter is dead, and kids are free to do whatever they want to in a house.

MSauk

MSauk

Premium Member

join:2002-01-17

Sandy, UT 12 recommendations MSauk Premium Member Can't wait I can't wait to see another depression produced by a Republican President! Consumer protections, health care, taxes, we are all screwed unless you are in the top 1%. That is the way the Republicans like it, I still can't figure out why the poor southerners continue to vote for people that continue to ignore their interests. Oh that's right, Gods Glory. Sad Terabit

join:2008-12-19 2 edits 11 recommendations Terabit Member Already Making Murica Great Again These two clowns claim that regulations via the FCC (lol) are affecting small business growth. What a bloody farce... Small business for RWers means lawncare and gov subsidized farms anyway. Fact: Their states are ranked dead last and in the bottom 15 for Innovation and Tech, in both America and the OECD. However, they want to lecture even San Fran about how we should run Tech businesses.



He's not even in office yet but already has plans in motion to screw over the American people. This is what the rest of us voted against. At what point will RWers stop justifying all of this and start to ask what the hell. You know, versus ranting and raving about some private email server. Watch any conservative news source and stories like this, that actually impact the lives of everyday American people, are never mentioned - ever.



These guys really want the America of Incorporated (Syfy)...

battleop

join:2005-09-28

00000 9 recommendations battleop Member So we just take MultiChannel's word? So they won't show us the document they claim to have and we're supposed to just take their word? Mmmm Riiiiggghhhhtttttttt. LINCSAT

Premium Member

join:2003-06-15

Markham, ON 8 recommendations LINCSAT Premium Member Fake Or Sided? This looks fake. You know I don't live in the great USA but I think all news now if it does not show in video or recording of the persons voice, its not real or its sided like I think this article is. CyberGuy

join:2006-08-21

Colbert, WA 6 recommendations CyberGuy Member As soon as Breitbart News is affected by intercarrier shenanigans... I expect it will be back in place and fully enforced! tabernak93

join:2015-02-16

Oklahoma City, OK 2 recommendations tabernak93 Member Isn't the FCC defanged already? Wheeler made some great efforts, but where are the spoils of those efforts or the efforts of the FCC the last 8 years? Caps on wireless plans, caps on wired plans, rural areas under served, mergers, zero rated data, wasted connect america funds, telephone companies walking away from DSL users, spectrum squatting, etc. From what I've read this is just business as usual.