Former FCC chief: Mistake to slow down regs

{mosads}But Verizon claims that the FCC overstepped its legal authority to regulate broadband Internet service.

Genachowski said that a recent Supreme Court ruling in a separate case involving an FCC regulation makes him “even more confident” that the agency will defeat Verizon’s challenge. The Supreme Court ruled last month that agencies should be given deference to interpret their own jurisdiction if a law is ambiguous.

But Robert McDowell, a former Republican FCC commissioner, said he believes the D.C. Circuit will still strike down the net neutrality rules despite the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“I don’t think the FCC has the statutory authority,” McDowell said on the program. “In this case, there’s no ambiguity over the jurisdiction.”

McDowell urged Congress to update communications law to focus the FCC on only combating market abuses that hurt consumers. 

Mignon Clyburn is currently the acting FCC chairwoman as the Senate considers the president’s nomination of Tom Wheeler.