One of the chief architects of cybersecurity policy during the Obama years — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Thomas Wheeler — last week announced he will leave the FCC on Jan. 20, clearing the way for a Donald Trump appointee who may put the brakes on a couple of cyber initiatives that have roiled industry.
Wheeler is a one-time telecom executive whose cyber and other policies at the FCC often put him at odds with his former industry.
President-elect Trump will choose the next FCC chairman, and Commissioner Ajit Pai, a Republican appointee, is frequently mentioned in telecom circles as a possible candidate.
That would be a welcome move to many in the industry, as Pai, an amiable former Verizon executive and FCC staffer, opposed some of Wheeler’s actions on cyber as going beyond the commission’s statutory authority to set requirements in this area.
In particular, Pai opposed privacy and security rules that Wheeler has pursued as part of his “net-neutrality” proposal, in which Internet service providers were reclassified as “common carriers,” like phone companies. The entire net-neutrality agenda has been fiercely opposed by industry.
On the other hand, Pai and Michael O’Rielly, the second GOP commissioner on the five-member panel, have supported many of the FCC initiatives to pursue cybersecurity improvements in collaboration with industry, rather than through regulatory mandates.
Wheeler’s record on collaboration versus regulation has been mixed. He set the commission on a historic course of partnership with industry, but never hid the fact that he also had a club to wield — regulation — if industry didn’t go along.
In 2014, Wheeler challenged industry and regulators to forge a “new paradigm” that moved beyond traditional regulatory models.
“We’re talking about building a new regulatory paradigm,” Wheeler said at the time. “If this works — when this works, this must work — it will prove over-regulation is not necessary” on cybersecurity improvements. “This is a new model, for this building, for this government. But we have to make it work. The alternatives are not attractive.”
The result was a landmark policy embraced by both the commission and industry, although subsequent skirmishes have broken out over one key element — private “assurance” meetings between the commission and telecom companies to discuss cyber efforts.
The FCC has been unable, thus far, to provide the confidentiality guarantees that industry wants in order to participate in the meetings without fear of possible legal or regulatory liability.
Wheeler’s proposal for structuring such meetings could still be voted on before he leaves office next month.
Wheeler also initiated a privacy and security rule under his controversial net-neutrality proposal, now the subject of intense industry pushback.
Wheeler became chairman in November 2013 after his nomination was held up for months by Senate Republicans concerned he would use the position to advance a campaign finance reform agenda.
He had been a fundraiser and activist for President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign but campaign finance never came up as a policy issue during his tenure at the FCC.
Wheeler in a Dec. 15 statement said, “Serving as FCC Chairman during this period of historic technological change has been the greatest honor of my professional life… It has been a privilege to work with my fellow Commissioners to help protect consumers, strengthen public safety and cybersecurity, and ensure fast, fair and open networks for all Americans.”
Pieces of that legacy seem likely to remain in place, but a change in direction — and certainly tone — is coming soon.
Charlie Mitchell is editor of InsideCybersecurity.com, an exclusive service covering cybersecurity policy from Inside Washington Publishers, and author of “Hacked: The Inside Story of America’s Struggle to Secure Cyberspace,” published by Rowman and Littlefield.
