press release

On November 22, 2017, you [Jarrod Sharp] appealed the denial of your application for a fee waiver in connection with your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, FOIA Control No. 2018-067. By this letter, we dismiss your appeal. On October 26, 2017, you filed a FOIA request with the Commission, seeking 1) a copy of the “‘Restoring Internet Freedom’ plan,” 2) documents regarding the Commission’s release of the plan, and 3) documents discussing the Commission’s DDOS attack claims. This request was assigned FOIA Control No. 2018-067.

Reps Gregory Meeks (D-NY), House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), and House Commerce Committee Ranking MemberFrank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) led six other Democrats in sending a letter to the Government Accountability Office requesting that it investigate and issue a report that uncovers the extent that outside groups were using false identities during the Federal Communications Commission’s recent network neutrality rulemaking process.  The letter also requests that GAO examine whether this shady practice extends to other agency rulemaking processes.

Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced the appointment of Jessica Martinez as Special Advisor and Confidential Assistant. Martinez joins Commissioner Rosenworcel’s office from the US House Energy and Commerce Committee Democratic Staff, where she served as the Outreach and Member Services Coordinator. Martinez also served as the Communications Director for the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association. Before her time on Capitol Hill, Martinez served as an Associate with a DC strategic firm, focusing on children’s healthcare policy issues.

Setting the Record Straight on Chairman Pai’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order:

MYTH: This is the end of the Internet as we know it. FACT: The Internet was free and open before the Obama Administration’s 2015 heavy-handed Title II Internet regulations, and it will be free and open after they are repealed.

The Federal Communications Commission announced the appointment of Barbara Esbin as deputy chief of the agency’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. Esbin will focus on overseeing the Bureau’s Office of Native Affairs and Policy and its Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, concentrating on productive engagement with Native Nations and with state and local governments. Esbin brings to the FCC broad experience, including more than 14 years at the agency and 15 years in private practice.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 14, 2017.

Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai confirmed his long-term goal to unravel net neutrality protections, demonstrating that he is on the wrong side of history, startups, consumers and the public interest. As millions of Americans voice their support for a free and open internet, Chairman Pai’s proposal hands the internet over to the largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who can throttle, assess a toll or block content. The net neutrality protections have advanced competition and innovation, created more startups and entrepreneurs, and have been judicially approved.

Today’s proposal from FCC leadership asks to either eliminate or modify the existing national media ownership cap. On this subject, Congress has made it clear that the FCC is not permitted to change or evade the cap, which statutorily prohibits a single broadcaster from acquiring stations that reach more than 39% of the national television audience. In fact, just yesterday, Congressional leaders warned the FCC not to use its regulatory authority to ignore the law.

Today’s announcement demonstrates that the FCC, under the leadership of Ajit Pai, understands the importance of making sure the internet continues to flourish under a light-touch regulatory regime. The past two years of heavy-handed regulation will be only a blip on the screen of a decades-long bipartisan equilibrium that successfully supported innovation and growth. We also remain committed to ensuring clear, permanent net neutrality rules through the legislative process, encouraging investment in broadband buildout, and closing the digital divide across America.

Earlier this year, the Commission reinstated the UHF discount, finding that the prior FCC’s decision last year to eliminate it absent a simultaneous review of the 39 percent national cap effectively tightened the cap without determining whether that was in the public interest. Because the national cap and the UHF discount are inextricably linked, any review of one component of the rule must include a review of the other. Under the proposal that I shared with my colleagues today, we would go about determining the future of the national cap, including the UHF discount, the right way.