Commentary
FCC's Republicans Slam Decision To Crack Down On 'Data-Free TV'
- by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, December 5, 2016
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission said for the first time that AT&T appears to violate net neutrality principles by exempting DirecTV video from customers' data caps.
The FCC's Republicans promptly criticized that move, while also pointing out that the agency could come to a different conclusion next year. "Any potential action the Bureau may be considering can be reviewed and potentially reversed within weeks," Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said in a statement issued late last week.
O'Rielly also says the FCC's decision to condemn zero-rating now -- just several weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office -- runs counter to a recent request by Senate Commerce Committee chair Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota). The lawmaker recently told Wheeler it would be "counterproductive for the FCC to consider complex and controversial items that the new Congress and new Administration will have an interest in reviewing."
O'Rielly stated that it "would be difficult to come up with a better example of a complex, controversial policy at the current Commission than this attempt to intimidate providers in order to shut down popular offerings to consumers."
AT&T's "Data-Free TV" is a zero-rating program that allows wireless customers who purchase DirecTV to watch video through the provider's mobile app without burning through their monthly data caps.
The telecom says consumers like the program, which lets them access streaming video without worrying about incurring charges for exceeding their data caps.
But consumer advocates argue that zero-rating programs give people an incentive to watch video from particular companies -- especially affiliated ones -- at the expense of competitors like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Jon Wilkins indicated the agency agrees with advocates on that point. Wilkins said in a letter to AT&T that its data-free tv "strongly favors AT&T's own video offerings while unreasonably discriminating against unaffiliated ... providers."
GOP Commissioner Ajit Pai also criticized the agency for doing an "end-run around Congress's clear instructions."
He added: "Any unilateral action taken by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Chairman’s direction in the next 49 days can quickly be undone by that same bureau after January 20, 2017."
Wendy Davis is a Senior Writer at MediaPost. You can reach Wendy at wdavis@mediapost.com
It's so disappointing -and entirely wrong-headed- that the Republican members of the FCC propose rulemaking that is based on "experience harm first, then regulate." If we can see harm evolving prospectively, we should be able to regulate against it before anyone has to suffer the harm. What these Republican Commissioners are forgetting is that MONOPOLISTIC HARM HAS ALREADY OCCURRED IN THE PAST - this is why we enacted the Sherman & Clayton Anti-Trust laws and empowered the FTC. Monopolistic activities harm a competitive capitalist sociey, monopolistic activities are well-understood and seen in practice, and the prevention of those activities benefits fair competition. Preventative laws & regulations are often made prospectively to discourage bad behavior, before harm occurs. The FCC, by Congressional mandate, picks up on regulating Title II telecommunications providers where the FTC is forced to leave off. So the FCC's enforcement actions - just the FTC's - empower the FCC to regulate against prospective monopolistic harm. Internet rules can - and should - be made before market harm occurs. Otherwise, why even have the FCC if it's only going to put in place rules that are retroactive against actual harm? Why require the harm to occur? That's chickenshit on the part of the FCC commissioners, and that's what courts are intended to address.
Do your job, guys. Figure out how to help the economy to avoid unnecessary harms, which includes creating regulations in advance of monopolistic market actions, such as Zero-Rating.