Parul Desai is the FCC's new net neutrality ombudsperson

Jun 16, 2015 09:36 GMT  ·  By

Net neutrality went into effect last Friday, and the FCC has moved on to appoint a new ombudsman to investigate any customer complaints regarding its implementation.

Parul Desai, a well-known advocate of consumer rights, was named by the FCC as the Open Internet ombudsperson, a new role created by the agency to investigate any attempts by Internet and telecom providers to sabotage FCC's Open Internet Order (a.k.a. net neutrality).

According to her LinkedIn page, Mrs. Desai has a "broad legal expertise in media, telecommunications, and technology law," and has previously served as Policy Counsel for the Consumers Union, and Vice President for the Media Access Project, a defunct organization that mitigated to promote freedom of expression, independent media, and low-cost, universal access to communications services.

This doesn't bode well for broadband providers that will now have to face a person very well versed in their strategies and past policies.

Mrs. Desai will be in charge of the FCC Consumer Complaints center, where she will investigate if user reports are actually true and will report on to the FCC over any net neutrality violation.

Net neutrality is not yet set in stone

Net neutrality overall is facing one last legal hurdle this fall, when a full-on trial is expected, with the telecoms industry trying to convince a judge that the FCC does not have regulatory powers over the issue.

Only last week a judge from the District of Columbia sided with the FCC after the broadband providers tried to temporarily suspend the net neutrality implementation, so there's a high chance the upcoming trial will also be favorable to the FCC.

But even if the FCC succeeds in its upcoming trial, the US presidential elections are set for next year, and if by any chance a Republican candidate wins, he will have the power to replace the FCC's chairman with somebody who might be willing to dismiss the new Open Internet Order and substitute it with something more ISP-friendly.

Because President Obama has been a vocal supporter of net neutrality, Republican party members have been campaigning against it all along, and unless the public doesn't make itself heard during the presidential campaign and require the Republican party to shift its views on the issue, the Open Internet Order faces a dismal future.