FTC Raises Its Voice Under Its Soft-Spoken Chairwoman

While public debate has raged in recent months over the Federal Communications Commission’s position on network neutrality and the Justice Department’s review of the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the Federal Trade Commission has operated somewhat more in the shadows. But FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez is pushing to regain some of the prominence of the FTC, the nation’s top consumer protection enforcer, which just celebrated its 100th anniversary -- by focusing particular attention on digital privacy and transactions.

Her efforts could lead to more turf battles, including with the FCC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which see their mandates as covering much of the same enforcement territory. The agencies say publicly that they are working well together and just divvying up the spoils. Behind the scenes, though, more than a little tension has developed. The FTC has recently warned, for example, that the FCC’s net neutrality ruling might infringe on the trade commission’s ability to protect consumers. If the communications commission reclassifies broadband Internet service as a sort of utility, the trade commission would lose some legal jurisdiction over Internet service providers. Similarly, last week, the FCC and the consumer bureau stepped in to aggressively target Sprint, the mobile phone company, on a type of case that the FTC has recently brought against two other wireless carriers, AT&T and T-Mobile. Chairwoman Ramirez, described by colleagues as a reserved yet diligent litigator, will be at the center of that turf battle, her calm demeanor masking an aggressive negotiator.