FCC Chief Bails and CTA Head Makes Do

　　Less than a month after pushing a vote in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to end rules protecting "net neutrality" on the Internet, FCC chairman Ajit Pai missed his victory dance at the Consumer Electronics Show, blaming a series of death threats for cancellation of the FCC Chairman's annual appearance at the giant technology convention.

　　A year ago, at the same forum in Las Vegas, Ajit Pai had all but guaranteed a new Internet regime ending the era of unrestricted free access to the Web that dates back to its inception by a group of Defense Department scientists in the 1970s.

　　News reports were sketchy as to whether the threats to Pai came from angry Internet users fearful that a handful of powerful Internet service providers (including Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T) will restrict "fast-track" access to corporate users willing to pay premium rates, or from white supremacists who have chafed over the appointment of an Indian-American as one of the United States' most powerful regulators.

　　What's clear was that Consumer Technology Association (CTA) president Gary Shapiro was left interviewing the second banana in the Trump administration's CES regulatory show, Acting Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Maureen Ohlhausen.

　　Shapiro called the absence of Pai a "horrible situation." Its trigger, of course, was the FCC's 3-2 vote -- along party lines -- on December 14 to cancel a 2015 decision to apply Title II of the 1934 Communications Act to the Internet. That decision, promoted by then FCC chief Tom Wheeler, defined the Internet as a "common carrier" ensuring free access to all its users, similar to radio and terrestrial television.

　　Pai's aggressive pursuit of net-neutrality repeal contradicted his previous stated position that "a dispute this fundamental is not for us, five unelected individuals, to decide. Instead, it should be resolved by the people's elected representatives, those who choose the direction of government, and those whom the American people can hold accountable for that choice."

　　Not only did the FCC not defer to a Congressional vote on net neutrality, polls have shown that more than eighty percent of the U.S. public oppose Pai's pro-ISP position. The controversy only got worse when it was discovered that the FCC's public comment process was infiltrated by unknown hackers.

　　The FCC was flooded with fake comments, mostly supporting Pai, many of them using stolen or fabricated identities. The result was the discrediting of the comment process and further turmoil among consumers who depend on the Internet for communication, social media, commerce and news.

　　In Pai's absence, Shapiro got Ohlhausen, an appointee of President George W. Bush (Barack Obama named Pai to the FCC) with impeccable conservative credentials, to elliptically endorse the FCC's decision on de-neutralizing the Net.

　　Asked by Shapiro to cite Internet users who merit "priority" over consumers who "just want to watch Netflix," Ohlhausen said health and safety, as well as privacy, deserve preferential treatment.

　　Shapiro helped out, saying, "Net neutrality is important, but some things are more important than others. This is a nuanced issue."

　　Nuances aside, this ended a net-neutrality discussion that more than a hundred CES attendees had come to the Las Vegas Convention Center to hear.

　　Shapiro and Ohlhausen briefly broached the related issue of antitrust enforcement, a realm closer to the FTC's authority. Ohlhausem noted that her approach to the emerging mega-corporations in technology and communication, such as as Apple and Google, leans more toward diplomacy than intervention.

　　"You can't say big is bad and small is good across the board," said Ohlhausen. "Is a company innovating and reducing price through economies of scale, economies of scope and greater efficiency?"

　　If so, she suggested, a big company could benefit consumers, regardless of its size and market dominance, unlike a big company that is "getting big just by buying up its competitors." The FTC looks at these mergers" with such criteria in mind, she added.

　　She concluded, "We're always looking at whether companies are colluding."

　　The FTC, Shapiro noted, also oversees many aspects of "big data," the electronic collection of massive amounts of information, much of it personal.

　　Ohlhausen admitted that big data poses a serious challenge to regulators like the FTC, if only to determine what sort of data should be made universally available. She cited the obvious example of financial information, bank account and credit card numbers, but also cited "real-time location data" that reveals where an individual is at all times.

　　Health information, she said, must be rigorously guarded, as well as personal photos, legal issues and family troubles. She said the FTC "should be addressing" all such privacy issues.

　　Asked by Shapiro, "Do corporations have any right to privacy?," Ohlhausen brushed off the question, replying that big companies have enough resources to protect themselves.

　　Asked, finally, about her legacy at the Federal Trade Commission, Ohlhausen cited her creation of the Economic Liberty Task Force, a subgroup within the FTC focused on identifying regulations that harm service providers in a vast range of small business, including beauty shops and interior decoration.

　　She said she set up the Task Force  "to allow technology and innovation to benefit consumers" by taking "a look at regulations in place that are preventing people at the lower end of the economic ladder to move up, and preventing their communities from doing so." Federal intervention, said Ohlhausen can help solve these problems.

　　She said that many of these protectionist rules and licensing requirements have been promulgated at the state and local level. Among these, she mentioned work restrictions that make it hard for military spouses to find jobs near the bases where they are stationed. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has introduced legislation, supported by the FTC, directed at this issue.

　　"I hope," said Ohlhausen, "that this [initiative] will live on after my term."