Torrent of Public Comments Begins to Hit FCC on Open Internet, Broadband Title II

The trickle of public comments on FCC net neutrality issues turned into a tsunami after Chairman Ajit Pai's announcement Wednesday that he plans to roll back much of the agency's 2015 broadband reclassification and net neutrality order (see 1704260054). After posting only a couple hundred public comments in the open internet docket in the previous two months, the electronic comment filing system (ECFS) posted about 100 Wednesday, about 1,100 Thursday and about 9,650 Friday (as of late afternoon). Many appear to be form letters using templates and online submission links provided by advocacy groups on both sides of the dispute. Rhetoric around the NPRM also is heating up (see 1704280051), though it's not expected to derail Pai's reconfirmation (see 1704280055).

Pai released a draft rulemaking notice Thursday and placed it on the tentative agenda for the May 18 commissioners' meeting (see 1704270044). The NPRM proposing to undo Title II broadband reclassification under the Communications Act and revisit associated net neutrality rules opened a new "Restoring Internet Freedom" docket, 17-108, without including the previous open internet docket, 14-28, in the heading.

Most of the roughly 5,400 comments posted Friday in docket 17-108 supported Pai's move to reverse key parts of the 2015 order pushed through under then-Chairman Tom Wheeler and backed by then-President Barack Obama, based on our spot checks of dozens of filings. "I was outraged by the Obama/Wheeler FCC's decision to reclassify the Internet as a regulated 'public utility' under a Depression-era law written for the old Ma Bell telephone monopoly," said one of the most popular form letters. "Government utility regulation of the Internet risks devastating private investment, undermining competition, and stalling innovation. ... I urge you to stand up to the radical extremists who took over the FCC under Obama and protect our free-market Internet by rescinding the Title II order."

Conversely, most of the roughly 5,450 comments posted in docket 14-28 Wednesday through Friday opposed Pai's plan, based on our spot checks. "FCC Open Internet Rules (net neutrality rules) are extremely important to me," said a popular form letter. "I urge you to protect them. Most Americans only have one choice for true high speed Internet access: our local cable company. ... I'm sending this letter to my two senators, my representative, the White House, and the FCC. ... To the FCC: don’t interfere with my ability to access what I want on the Internet, or with websites' ability to reach me. You should leave the existing rules in place, and enforce them."

The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a public notice Thursday providing guidance on making filings in the new docket in ECFS. CGB invited parties filing group comments to use a special online submission webpage.

Officials continued to wrangle over the comments filed in the 2014-2015 proceeding, including Commissioner Mike O'Rielly who joined and backed Pai at his Wednesday speech. "I must smile when I hear proponents try to defend net neutrality’s enactment," he said. "They inevitably refer to the nearly 4 million comments the commission received on the topic. Lost somehow is the simple truth that more than 1.6 million, or almost 40 percent, of those comments opposed the imposition of the rules. More importantly, Commission outcomes are not and cannot be decided by poll numbers or letter counts."

Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood acknowledged many opposition reply comments, but said they were generated by "astroturf groups" and he questioned the 1.6 million number: "I have no idea what their count was, or how to measure it accurately."

Asked about the source of the 1.6 million number, an O'Rielly aide emailed us: "Roughly 40% opposed to NN has been a number we have seen a lot, including in this piece: [see here]. So 1.6M probably a good estimate out of the total 4M comments often trumpeted by Wheeler. The point is that pro-NN forces often repeat the 4M number without noting that they were far from unanimous." Senior FCC officials on a call with reporters Thursday made a similar point, and said the commission will review the public comments, but said the quality of the arguments and facts in comments was more important than their sheer numbers.