*In partnership with Broadband Breakfast, we occasionally republish each other's content.

The following story by Broadband Breakfast Reporter Jake Neenan was originally published here.

Consumer advocacy groups that frequently appear before the Federal Communications Commission are not happy with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency. 

Brendan Carr, the agency’s senior Republican who’s now set to take the reins in January, wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC.

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In addition to telecom issues more traditionally in the FCC’s wheelhouse, he outlined plans to reinterpret Section 230, the law that protects internet platforms from liability for their users’ posts, and otherwise target big tech companies, who he has said unfairly target conservative views.

“While there has been much discussion about whether or not the breadth of Section 230 is appropriate, what everyone agrees on is that the authority lies with Congress, not the FCC, to change its scope,” Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis, said in a statement.

“It’s concerning that the incoming chair believes that the FCC has the authority to change the scope of the plain language of a statute, but not regulate broadband in the interest of consumers.”

As the nation observes Labor Day, Public Knowledge is gearing up to celebrate the work of four Internet champions who have made significant contributions “on behalf of the public interest to help everyone connect and communicate.”

To that end, Public Knowledge recently announced the award winners for the 21st Annual IP3 Awards, which will be held on September 26th at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C.

Among the four award recipients is Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). She will be presented with the Internet Protocol Award this year, recognizing her as a national leader of the digital equity movement.

In announcing the awards, Public Knowledge noted how Angela has been a trailblazer “in the field we now call ‘digital inclusion.’”

The announcement went on to recount the early days of her notable career – “starting with setting up computer labs in underserved areas and managing local digital inclusion programs” and how Angela’s “first-hand knowledge” led to her being called on to consult for the US Department of Commerce as well as testify before Congress on a number of occasions.

In 2015, as Angela saw “the growing field needed its own place to build best practices and community,” she focused her attention on becoming “the founding executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, which advances digital equity by supporting community programs and equipping policymakers to act,” the announcement read in explaining why she is being honored.

Three other award recipients were also announced:

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks is being honored with the President’s Award for his work “from combating Internet inequality to advocating for diversity in employment, entrepreneurship, and media ownership.”

As Georgia prepares to administer $1.3 billion in federal BEAD grants to build new broadband networks, as well as an additional $22.4 million in federal Digital Equity Act funds, digital inclusion advocates in the Peach State are gathering in Atlanta this week to discuss how these once-in-a-generation investments can be made to ensure “every Georgia resident is fully equipped to participate in our digital revolution.”

Among those who will take part in “The Path to Digital Equity: Elevating Local Voices To Drive Impact on Digital Equity” is our own Jordan Pittman, Digital Equity Coordinator with ILSR’s Community Broadband Networks initiative.

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The event – co-hosted by Public Knowledge, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), and the Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative – will be held on Thursday (August 29) beginning at 2 p.m. at the Fernbank Museum.

Opening remarks will be given by President and CEO of Public Knowledge Chris Lewis, who also serves on ILSR's board of directors.

Public Knowledge's annual IP3 award ceremony was held virtually on September 23rd for its 18th year. The event serves as "a special occasion to honor those who have made significant contributions in the three areas of IP: Intellectual Property, Information Policy, and Internet Protocol" over the past year or over the course of their career. 

Among the honorees was ILSR's own Christopher Mitchell, who received the Internet Protocol Award. With a list of present and past winners including Tim Wu, Mignon Clyburn, Tim Berners-Lee, Sascha Meinrath, and a host of other hard-working and thoughtful champions of a free, open, and universally accessible Internet, he was in good company. 

The full list of winners for 2021 was:

Information Policy Award will be presented to Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League.

Our Intellectual Property Award will be posthumously presented to Sherwin Siy. He was a tech policy activist whose expertise spanned a range of fields including copyright, privacy, telecommunications, and free expression.

Our Internet Protocol Award will be presented to Chris Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis.

And our President's Award will be presented to Senator Amy Klobuchar — one of the Senate’s foremost leaders on tech issues like platform regulation and broadband opportunity.

Public Knowledge serves as the vanguard of progressive policy in media, technology, privacy, infrastructure, and regulation, and we are honored to count them and the rest of the honorees as allies in the fight for fast, affordable, reliable Internet access for all. 

Public Knowledge, a nonprofit organization devoted to ensuring that "copyright, telecommunications, and Internet law" evolve and continue to be regulated in pursuit of what is best for the public at large, will be holding its 18th annual Intellectual Property, Information Policy, and Internet Protocol (IP3) awards virtually this September 23rd, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. Register here.

Entering it's 20th anniversary this year, Public Knowledge has and continues to do pioneering, nuanced, and impactful work in pursuit of towards healthier markets, broadband access, media consolidation, net neutrality, spectrum reform, consumer privacy, and an array of other issues. The organization's Senior Policy Counsel John Bergmeyer joined the Community Broadband Bits podcast in 2017 to talk about cable monopolies, content providers, and market competition.

Three individuals will be presented awards for their work by Joy Boulamwini of the Algorithmic Justice League:

Our Intellectual Property Award will be posthumously presented to Sherwin Siy. He was a tech policy activist whose expertise spanned a range of fields including copyright, privacy, telecommunications, and free expression.

Our Internet Protocol Award will be presented to Chris Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis.

And our President's Award will be presented to Senator Amy Klobuchar — one of the Senate’s foremost leaders on tech issues like platform regulation and broadband opportunity.

Register for the event here to join the event and support the ongoing work by Public Knowledge.

As you plan your week, make sure you have access to YouTube early so you can livestream the "Opportunities for Bipartisan Tech Policy" from 9 a.m. - 12:30 EST. The event, which will be streaming from Washington, D.C., is sponsored by Next Century Cities (NCC), the American Action Forum, and Public Knowledge. 

Check out the agenda for the event.

Distinguished Guests

In addition to keynote conversations from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Senior Brookings Institution Fellow Blair Levin, our Christopher Mitchell will moderate a panel on rural broadband. The discussion on rural broadband will include input from:

• Jonathan Chambers of Conexon
• Shirley Bloomfield of the NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association
• Harold Feld from Public Knowledge
• Brent Skorup from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University; and
• Jamie Susskind of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s office

 Other panels will cover the topics of data privacy and security, and spectrum. Representatives from institutions such as the Georgetown Law Center on Privacty and Technology, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and ALEC will also be attending; expect a spirited event. It’s a half-day filled with policy, described by Next Century Cities as: 

[B]ringing together members of Congress, community leaders, and policy experts. Keynote conversations and panel discussions will work to determine key policy goals and action steps for the new Congress, with a specific focus on rural broadband, digital privacy and security, and spectrum legislation.

You can watch the livestream here and follow the conversation on Twitter: #BipartisanTech

The new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has not been shy about letting the public know that the agency, under the new administration, will undo many of the net neutrality protections of the Obama years. Unsurprisingly, the FCC website has been taxed with heavy traffic as concerned citizens reach out to comment.

Many of us consider what will be available to us if ISPs are able to decide which content has access to “fast lanes” through paid prioritization. Artists who create that content have the same concern.

This short video from Public Knowledge highlights the words of Francis Ford Coppola in his open letter to the FCC. He asks the agency to remember its place in history and to protect artistic innovation from corporate greed. In other words, “leave the gun, take the cannoli.”

Public Knowledge recently released a video on changes in the new administration’s FCC policies. One by one, progress made during the last eight years is being sliced up and doled out to the detriment of ISP subscribers.

Public Knowledge describes the video like this:

This video draws attention to the growing list of giveaways by Congress and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai to large cable and telecommunications companies that act as local broadband monopolies.

The video, which functions as a broad statement of themes, uses a series of pie slices to detail what consumers fear about the new administration’s telecommunications policy positions, in general language. The pieces of pie reflect multiple potential giveaways being heaped onto big cable and phone companies’ plates.

From selling private data without consent and eliminating some companies’ ability to offer affordable broadband, to forcing consumers to rent set-top boxes and embarking upon efforts to kill net neutrality, FCC Chairman Pai and many in Congress are promoting policies that give consumers the short end of the stick.

Check it out: