Trump transition team’s plan for FCC is “a declaration of war” on universal service, consumer protection
It appears that President-elect Trump has signaled support for his transition team’s plan to decrease the FCC’s ability to oversee universal service and consumer protections. The team’s plan is to restructure the agency and transfer many regulatory responsibilities to other agencies. The goal is to remove regulation from the telecom and tech industry, leaving consumers to fend for themselves against some of the largest companies in the country.
Trump’s transition team plan for the FCC is "a declaration of war on the most basic principles of universal service, consumer protection, competition, and public safety that have been the bipartisan core of the Communications Act for the last 80+ years," said Harold Feld, senior VP of Public Knowledge. He added that this proposal would "poison the well for any serious effort to update the Communications Act,” which would require congressional approval.
Links:
Exclusive: Trump Team Embraces FCC Remake Blueprint (Multichannel, Jan. 15, 2017)
Trump team reportedly wants to strip FCC of consumer protection powers (Ars Technica, Jan. 16, 2017)
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