Venable partner Jamie Barnett discussed the cybersecurity legacy of FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in an August 24, 2016 Communications Daily article. During his tenure, which is likely ending in a few months, Wheeler worked closely with the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) pushing for more public-private partnerships to improve sector cybersecurity. Barnett praised the CSRIC work for "backing up" Wheeler’s articulation of a "clear policy that telecom companies needed to do more on cybersecurity than what the market was bearing." He added that it "has been very significant because they had to work with industry to come up with those things."
Barnett also spoke about Wheeler's impact on the Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband as a telecom service. He said Wheeler "certainly reserved the FCC's right to regulate" cybersecurity and the expansion of Title II authority "will also be a significant part" of his legacy. The expansion of Title II allows the FCC to more broadly examine "what the FCC's going to do and what industry's going to do to prove that they're taking care of," Barnett added.