STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. MCDOWELL ON CHAIRMAN GENACHOWSKI'S INTENT TO ADOPT INTERNET REGULATIONS
NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
445 12th Street, S.W.Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
Washington, D. C. 20554
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
NEWS MEDIA CONTACT
December 1, 2010
Angela Giancarlo 202-418-2066
Angela.Giancarlo@fcc.gov
STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. McDOWELL
ON CHAIRMAN GENACHOWSKI'S INTENT TO ADOPT
INTERNET REGULATIONS
The following statement should be attributed to FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell:"Minutes before midnight last night, Chairman Genachowski announced his intent to
adopt sweeping regulations of Internet network management at the FCC's open meeting on
December 21. I strongly oppose this ill-advised maneuver. Such rules would upend three
decades of bipartisan and international consensus that the Internet is best able to thrive in the
absence of regulation.
Pushing a small group of hand-picked industry players toward a "choice" between a bad
option (Title I Internet regulation) or a worse option (regulating the Internet like a monopoly
phone company under Title II) smacks more of coercion than consensus or compromise.
This "agreement" has been extracted in defiance of not only the courts, but a large,
bipartisan majority of Congress as well. Both have admonished the FCC not to reach beyond its
statutory powers to regulate Internet access. By choosing this highly interventionist course, the
Commission is ignoring the will of the elected representatives of the American people."
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