Today, the FCC proposed over $47 million in fines on 10 nonprofit Educational Broadband Service spectrum licensees for allegedly violating rules that the Commission repealed last April. 

The following statement should be attributed to Gigi Sohn: 

“This action is the opposite of the ‘regulatory humility’  this FCC claims to believe in – it is an abuse of power.  

Commissioner Carr agitated for the Enforcement Bureau to investigate these nonprofits because he disagreed with the activities and beliefs of some of the licensees. The FCC had to tie itself in knots to come up with a theory to punish them – finding that they violated grossly outdated rules that the Commission itself repealed over a year ago. Then it proposed fines wildly out of proportion to the alleged infractions, without any consideration of mitigating factors, including that these licensees are providing low-cost or free Internet access to hundreds of thousands of educators and students during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Gigi Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate. She is the host of the Tech on the Rocks podcast. She served as Counselor to former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from 2013-2016. Gigi can be reached for comment at gbsohn@gmail.com or at 202-253-0876.