For five years, FCC Commissioner Clyburn held firm in network neutrality fight

Just one member of the Federal Communications Commission who will vote on network neutrality on Feb 26 was on the FCC the last time it tackled the issue in 2010. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn took office in August 2009 and soon thereafter argued that the FCC should pass a far stronger version of net neutrality than it ultimately approved.

She said that rules preventing broadband providers from interfering with Internet traffic should apply fully to wireless carriers and that the FCC should use its Title II authority to regulate broadband providers as common carriers. Julius Genachowski, the FCC Chairman at the time, ultimately pushed a plan that did not fully apply to wireless and relied on the commission's weaker authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. Commissioner Clyburn voted in favor of the plan to get rules in place but made it clear she wanted a stronger net neutrality regime. Commissioner Clyburn prediction that using the FCC's weaker authority could lead to failure in court proved correct. This time around, Commissioner Clyburn wants to make sure strong rules are passed without relying on questionable legal grounds.