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Ajit Pai admits FCC got broadband growth figures wrong
The impressive broadband growth numbers the FCC reported in February were actually off by millions, and now the agency has admitted in a revised draft that its figures were indeed inflated. It was advocacy group Free Press that originally revealed (PDF) the inaccuracy in March, though commission chief Ajit Pai didn't even mention its role in the discovery. The organization found that a new ISP called BarrierFree falsely told the FCC that it has started serving 20 percent of the country just six months after it opened.
Ajit Pai refused to discuss carrier tracking scandal with lawmakers
Lawmakers want to know why the FCC still allows mobile carriers to share their subscribers' location data with aggregators, but they won't be getting answers from its chairman anytime soon. Ajit Pai has refused to attend an emergency briefing requested by the Committee on Energy and Commerce chief Rep. Frank Pallone. The committee head was hoping to discuss the phone location tracking scandal that blew up last week. If you'll recall, a Motherboard reporter was able to get someone's real-time location from a bail bond agent for just $300, and that information came from a company that purchases data from mobile carriers.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai cancels CES appearance
For the second year in a row, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has cancelled his appearance at CES, though this time around, it's under very different circumstances. According to Politico Pro, both he and Commissioner Brendan Carr have had to cancel their CES plans due to the partial government shutdown that's still ongoing. Pai was supposed to discuss FCC plans with the Consumer Technology Association's Gary Shapiro while Carr was scheduled to take part in a roundtable discussion.
FCC’s Ajit Pai labels California net neutrality law 'illegal'
FCC head honcho, Ajit Pai, didn't mince words in comments regarding California's recent passing of a tough net neutrality bill. In his keynote speech for neoconservative policy organization Maine Heritage Policy Center, Pai called California's SB 822 "illegal" and said it "poses a risk to the rest of the country." Pai also hinted that he'd be coming for California should SB 822, seen as the toughest net neutrality law in the nation, receive the governor's signature, as it's expected to in the next two weeks.
Lawmakers ask Ajit Pai about false DDoS claims
A handful of Democratic lawmakers have some questions for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai regarding claims of a DDoS attack that the Inspector General recently concluded were false. Specifically, they want to know when Pai became aware that disruption to the agency's net neutrality comment system may not have been due to a DDoS attack and why the agency didn't correct its public statements alleging a DDoS attack before now. "It is troubling that you allowed the public myth created by the FCC to persist and your misrepresentations to remain uncorrected for over a year," they wrote in a letter to Pai today. The letter was signed by Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ), Mike Doyle (PA), Jerry McNerney (CA) and Debbie Dingell (MI).
Hypocrisy at the FCC and the illusion of transparency
Less than two weeks after being named chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai said one of his priorities was to "make the agency's operation more transparent," beginning with a pilot program to release internal documents pertaining to upcoming FCC meetings. It was a nice sentiment, and one that — on its face — seemed to be an attempt on Pai's part to do the right thing. If sunlight is the best disinfectant, surely shedding more of it on a government agency that deals in massively important, far-reaching technical policy is a good thing... right?
