FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
The revolving door in D.C. between industry and the agencies that regulate has always been a huge problem, and right now it could be killing net neutrality. Emails provided to VICE News through a Freedom of Information Act request
show just how tight Federal Communications Commission officials and staff are with Big Telecom. They also add fuel to the critique of FCC Chair Tom Wheeler for being a consummate industry insider—and not a public servant.
The 600-pages of documents, which include emails and letters, are especially noteworthy because they pertain to discussions revolving around rules for net neutrality, which FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler — he's a former lobbyist for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and Nextel — is expected to unveil and enact in the coming weeks.
[S]ome of the internal FCC documents show that telecom lobbyists and executives at internet service providers have a direct line to the chairman and have already attempted to influence his decision.
Two days before the FCC's May 15 vote on the open internet proposal, John Chambers, the chairman and chief executive of Cisco Systems, spoke with Wheeler on the phone to express his concerns by some "advocates to impose the old fashioned telephone regulations of Title II of the Communications Act to broadband internet access service." That is the proposal Obama is urging the FCC to adopt.
Chambers said Cisco "strongly supports" Wheeler's proposal that the commission voted on, as it would spur innovation "by allowing new technology and business models to be deployed without onerous regulation." Classifying broadband service as a public utility would chill "investment in new infrastructure," Chambers said.
That's just one of the examples VICE provides from the documents it received. Others show communications between head Comcast lobbyist Kathy Zachem and Philip Verveer, the FCC's senior lawyer, with Zachem sharing the language (probably written by Comcast) that Republican congressional members were going to use to respond to Wheeler's two-tiered internet proposal. Verveer is a likely an old friend of Zachem, having once served as a consultant for Comcast. He's also lobbied for two of the most powerful industry foes of net neutrality, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Wireless Association (CTIA).
There are also emails showing Wheeler reaching out to former FCC Chair Michael Powell, who is now, of course, president of the NCTA. Wheeler was looking for feedback from Powell on a speech he was making "to deliver a message that shows that the perception that we're gutting Open Internet is wrong." Powell's responses were not released by the FCC in this bunch of documents, but there are a number originating from Wheeler to Powell and other industry insiders, looking for information and asking for feedback on his public statements about net neutrality.
This release of documents is also disturbing because of the amount held back, and how much has been kept in the dark. Kit Walsh, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who reviewed the documents for VICE News is particularly disturbed about what's still hidden.
"Unlike arguments made in public, no one gets the opportunity to debunk the telecoms' arguments when they're made in secret," Walsh told VICE News. "But the documents we do see demonstrate telecoms have access and relationships with regulators. It's a social network between regulator and the regulated."
Industry clearly has Wheeler's ear. The primary question right now is if it also has his undivided loyalty. The public has clearly spoken on this issue with more than 4 million comments, 99 percent of them in support of strong net neutrality rules. So here's the question for Wheeler: is he a servant of the public or of Big Telecom?
Call the FCC. Tell them to prove they are serving the public and pass strong net neutrality rules under Title II.