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The FCC’s own chief technology officer emailed concerns about net neutrality repeal plan

The FCC’s own chief technology officer emailed concerns about net neutrality repeal plan

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

In an email sent to FCC commissioners’ offices this week, the agency’s chief technology officer expressed concerns about today’s net neutrality repeal proposal, according to a report from Politico.

“Allowing such blocking is not in the public interest.”

The publication, citing FCC sources, reports that Eric Burger, who took the CTO job in October, wrote in the email that the proposal failed to properly account for concerns about blocking or throttling websites. "Unfortunately, I realize we do not address that at all," Burger wrote, according to Politico. "If the ISP is transparent about blocking legal content, there is nothing the [Federal Trade Commission] can do about it unless the FTC determines it was done for anti-competitive reasons. Allowing such blocking is not in the public interest."

The FCC told Politico that the email was part of a normal editing process, and Burger has since told the publication that his concerns have been "fully addressed" after language was tweaked in the proposal. Still, it’s difficult not to see a critical email as a note of dissent, as the FCC moves ahead with its plans.

This morning, the agency will vote on the rollback of net neutrality rules. With a 3–2 Republican majority, the proposal will likely pass along party lines.