What should I say to Chairman Wheeler? Forum

[eriedoctrine]

Rising 2L, and am starting my paid legal internship at FCC - Office of Chairman Wheeler.
With the whole entire fiasco going on, anything I should say/avoid saying to him?
I don't want to offend...

[Danger Zone]

Smile when you walk past and exclaim "Way to ruin the internet!" A thumbs up may be a bit much though.

[eriedoctrine]

Dude that'll get me fired.

What if he asks me, so eriedoctrine, what do you think of my new proposed rules?
I think I should say something lawyerly, like, there are advantages to both sides.... on the one hand.... on the other hand... and then end with ... but I think the commissions's stance is the stronger because ..

CAN someone help me think of the pros of this new bill other than fking up democracy? I wanna b intellegient.
I think one pro is that it helps create funding for a "new, better, and faster" internet, etc...
Gotta go look up on some of his talks...

[Danger Zone]

Employers don't want to hear that brown-nosing. They like to be challenged, and what better way to do that than by calling out the head of the agency as a summer intern? You'll be a god among men.

[eriedoctrine]

Employers don't want to hear that brown-nosing. They like to be challenged, and what better way to do that than by calling out the head of the agency as a summer intern? You'll be a god among men.

Ok shush no more advice from you.
I wanna wake up in the morning and hear some intelligent feedback.

[prezidentv8]

If I were about to ruin the internet, I hope someone would let me know.

[bearsfan23]

Sleep with his wife

[beepboopbeep]

What if he asks me, so eriedoctrine, what do you think of my new proposed rules?

Definitely happening. Be prepared.

[Danger Zone]

But seriously, you'll be lucky if this guy farts in your direction. You're not gonna be chilling with the FCC chairman as an intern. If you do, it'll be a brief meet and greet, definitely nothing substantive.

[It's A Lion]

Place a framed and matted photograph of Tim Berners-Lee on your desk. Buy him a membership to the Open Data Institute.

[gnomgnomuch]

Place a framed and matted photograph of Tim Berners-Lee on your desk. Buy him a membership to the Open Data Institute.

+10000000000000000000000000000000000

[XmusJaxonFlaxonWaxon]

As a fellow FCC summer intern who will be in a separate division, I would suggest you not mention the nprm to Wheeler unless he specifically asks you about it, but in the event that he does, you owe it to your country to respond to his question with an honest answer. If you think that "commercial reasonableness" is a sufficient safeguard for keeping the Internet open, equitable, and innovative, you should tell him as much.

If, however, like me, you think otherwise, I would suggest that you say the following:

"Chairman Wheeler, while I appreciate your prolonged commitment to anti-blocking measures and transparency disclosure requirements, and understand why you might have felt limited in what you were capable of implementing under the constraints of §706 authority, to be honest, I think this proposal is a prima facie violation of network neutrality and that the appropriate course of action would be Title II reclassification of ISPs as telecommunications services."

[eriedoctrine]

As a fellow FCC summer intern who will be in a separate division, I would suggest you not mention the nprm to Wheeler unless he specifically asks you about it, but in the event that he does, you owe it to your country to respond to his question with an honest answer. If you think that "commercial reasonableness" is a sufficient safeguard for keeping the Internet open, equitable, and innovative, you should tell him as much.

If, however, like me, you think otherwise, I would suggest that you say the following:

"Chairman Wheeler, while I appreciate your prolonged commitment to anti-blocking measures and transparency disclosure requirements, and understand why you might have felt limited in what you were capable of implementing under the constraints of §706 authority, to be honest, I think this proposal is a prima facie violation of network neutrality and that the appropriate course of action would be Title II reclassification of ISPs as telecommunications services."

Thank you for the very intelligent response!

[DELG]

Can someone please prepare me a list of things I owe my country ? TYIA

[smaug_]

Can someone please prepare me a list of things I owe my country ? TYIA

1. taxes

[XmusJaxonFlaxonWaxon]

As a fellow FCC summer intern who will be in a separate division, I would suggest you not mention the nprm to Wheeler unless he specifically asks you about it, but in the event that he does, you owe it to your country to respond to his question with an honest answer. If you think that "commercial reasonableness" is a sufficient safeguard for keeping the Internet open, equitable, and innovative, you should tell him as much.

If, however, like me, you think otherwise, I would suggest that you say the following:

"Chairman Wheeler, while I appreciate your prolonged commitment to anti-blocking measures and transparency disclosure requirements, and understand why you might have felt limited in what you were capable of implementing under the constraints of §706 authority, to be honest, I think this proposal is a prima facie violation of network neutrality and that the appropriate course of action would be Title II reclassification of ISPs as telecommunications services."

Thank you for the very intelligent response!

Any time. We should be in touch. I look forward to meeting the rest of the intern class and would enjoy hearing the latest from the Chairman's office (within your range of permissible disclosure).

[It's A Lion]

Can someone please prepare me a list of things I owe my country ? TYIA

Future taxes, undivided loyalty, and oath to protect the constitution.

[Ded Precedent]

The Chairman will definitely want to know your opinion so be prepared for a meeting on day one. Make sure you have something on paper to discuss or you might risk looking like someone who doesn't value his position as a paid intern.

[hyakku]

While some of you might think this guy is being ridiculous for thinking that he'll meet Wheeler, it really may not be that crazy. As a former intern in a different organization but with similar sensitive legislation being passed / discussed, I was definitely asked by the CLO and other attorneys about recent legislation the organization had advocated for as well as some of my opinions, and these were guys that were consistently at the center of the financial crisis and were the typical faces or names that would appear or be mentioned on CNN/CSPAN/Fox etc. Even though my contact with him was limited, we definitely met a few times, and he raised these points himself, so being prepared definitely help me not seem like an idiot.

With all that said, its not like they're going to fire you if you don't have much to say, but I feel you OP, it's always good to be the person that can talk about something with some intelligence rather than being the person who tries to BS their way through a conversation. If it gets too detailed or in depth, just be straight up and say something like, "While I understand x, y and Z of *whatever you're talking about*, I haven't read enough about A, B or C in order for me to really comment on *whatever aspect we're talking about now*, could you maybe flesh out what your asking me a little more?"

Enjoy the summer OP and everyone else

[rayiner]

I interned for an FCC comissioner as a 1L summer. The FCC is not a bureaucratic organization. I spoke with the Commissioner every day, sat in on meetings, and discussed with her NPRMs and proposed orders. Its a lot like externing for a judge. You'll probably get less contact with the Chairman, as he has a bigger staff, but you will get asked your opinion on the matters that come up while you're there.

Practice being a lawyer and giving an objective analysis. There are a lot of good reasons not to impose net neutrality. Most of the cable network was built after deregulation, and its private property. The cable companies have a right to do what they want with it. Increasing regulation will drive investment away from cable into areas with higher profit margins. A lot of the debate over net neutrality is really internet companies wanting to avoid competition from cable companies. Its about divvying up the profits from streaming video. In a way, Netflix deserves the least because theyre just middlemen: they dont make the content or build the wires. There are technically sound reasons for cable companies to partner with others to provide better service. E.g. Netflix colocates servers on cable networks to reduce the number of hops to the end user.