Layton: FCC oversteps with new ISP privacy regulation

The FCC took action yesterday announcing privacy rules for Internet service providers (ISPs). The fact that the FCC has jurisdiction over such regulation, usually reserved for the Federal Trade Commission, remains highly contested.  AEI Scholar Roslyn Layton comments on these proposed rules and FCC’s foray into ISP privacy regulation.

The tech policy debate can be characterized by regulatory efforts that, on the surface, seem like do-goodism, but in reality are corporate cronyism. A case in point is the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) latest effort to regulate privacy. The pretense of protecting consumers’ privacy is employed by the FCC to limit competition in the online advertising market in service of Internet behemoths wanting to protect their turf. When the FCC (a presumed expert, independent agency) is captured by Internet companies, consumers and fledgling advertisers are prevented from enjoying the competition that broadband providers can bring to the online advertising marketplace.

Read the full piece here.

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