The FCC’s Regulatory Focus
Today, Digital Liberty’s Kelly William Cobb had a column in Townhall.com on moving the FCC’s regulatory focus from enacting new, burdensome rules to reviewing ones already on the books. Earlier this month, the FCC announced it would review Intercarrier Compensation rules, which have been exploited by shell phone companies and cost companies and consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. The FCC will also review the highly abused Universal Service Fund tax on consumers' phones. Below is an excerpt, but CLICK HERE to read the whole piece.
For two years, President Obama's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched a number of regulatory campaigns purporting to protect consumers. Their onerous Net Neutrality Internet regulations – sure to be shot down in court or by Congress – were labeled as helping to “ensure robust Internet for consumers.” Their ongoing “bill shock” effort would place burdensome requirements on wireless providers under the guise of keeping phone bills down, while the FCC itself has helped raise the tax on consumers' wireless bills to over 16 percent.
With its anti-free market horse-blinders directed at piling on ever more regulation, the FCC has failed to rectify harms to consumers and companies caused by abuse of rules it already has on the books. Yet, the Commission’s announcement this month to reform two programs presents an opportunity to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse the FCC has long ignored.