FCC's own chief technology officer warned about net neutrality repeal

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The Federal Communications Commission's own chief technology officer expressed concern Dec 13 about FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan to repeal the network neutrality rules, saying it could lead to practices that are "not in the public interest." In an internal e-mail to all of the FCC commissioner offices, CTO Eric Burger, who was appointed by Pai in October, said the No. 1 issue with the repeal is concern that internet service providers will block or throttle specific websites, according to FCC sources who viewed the message.  "Unfortunately, I realize we do not address that at all," Burger said in the e-mail. "If the ISP is transparent about blocking legal content, there is nothing the [Federal Trade Commission] can do about it unless the FTC determines it was done for anti-competitive reasons. Allowing such blocking is not in the public interest."

The warning challenges the FCC's official line on the planned repeal of the net neutrality rules, set for a vote Dec 14. While the agency is poised to scrap the rules preventing internet providers like Comcast and Verizon from blocking or throttling web traffic, the FCC's Republican majority argues consumers won't see a difference online. An FCC official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations, said Burger's concerns have been addressed since his message the morning of Dec 13. The discussion, the official said, is part of the normal back-and-forth process of editing an FCC order.  The official said that some clarifying language was added to the order and that Burger replied the afternoon of Dec 13 to say his concerns were "fully addressed." The official also noted that the CTO was focused on one section of the order and not the part that dealt with the rules. Burger referred a request for comment to the FCC's media relations office.


FCC's own chief technology officer warned about net neutrality repeal