Groups, New York Pols Criticize FCC, Urge Action on Net Neutrality, Comcast/TWC
Public interest groups and New York politicians criticized FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the rest of the commissioners Monday for not attending a public hearing in Brooklyn on the commission’s net neutrality NPRM and its review of Comcast's planned buy of Time Warner Cable. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, a Democrat, said she had sought an FCC-sponsored hearing on net neutrality and Comcast/TWC in the New York area, but the commission hadn’t “taken us up on our offer.” Commissioner Ajit Pai chaired a net neutrality field hearing in College Station, Texas, last week (see 1410210049).
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Commissioner Mignon Clyburn sent a video message to the hearing saying she regretted not being able to attend but that “your voices are heard loud and clear.” Clyburn said her focus in considering net neutrality and Comcast/TWC would be on the effect the issues will have on consumers. She said she's still evaluating the effect of the various proposals. Wheeler has attended multiple net neutrality events this year, including ones in Albuquerque, New York, Oakland and Philadelphia, a spokesman said. He said the FCC also has held more than 20 hours of net neutrality roundtables that included online public participation.
Speakers at the Free Press-led event criticized the FCC for catering to corporate interests while simultaneously urging the commission to adopt strong net neutrality rules and reject Comcast/TWC. Brewer urged the FCC to use Communications Act Title II and Section 706 as bases for new net neutrality rules, while Maya Wiley, counsel to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, said she plans to file reply comments to the FCC on the issue. De Blasio, a Democrat, has been a public supporter of net neutrality and a critic of Comcast/TWC. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the FCC “must not be subservient to corporate interests,” and anything less than Title II reclassification would be an abandonment of strong net neutrality rules.
Free Press President Craig Aaron said the group and others involved in the hearing “got awfully tired of waiting” for the FCC to sponsor a New York-area hearing. Free Press plans to organize additional hearings in the coming months and if FCC members don’t attend a subsequent event, “we may have to start showing up at corporate events” that the commissioners attend,” Aaron said. Ex-Commissioner Michael Copps said that “I’m going to do everything I can” to voice New York citizens’ concerns about the net neutrality NPRM and Comcast/TWC to the FCC.