Wheeler: ISPs Have Ability to Deal With DDoS Attacks

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FCC chairman Tom Wheeler says that the FCC's Open Internet order does give ISPs the ability to deal with the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks like the one that hit Twitter, Netflix and other sites last week.

At a press conference following the Oct. 27 public meeting, the chairman said that given that the order allows for reasonable network management, ISPs "clearly" have leeway "to deal with issues like this."

That came in response to a letter from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.)—Wheeler also said he would be officially responding—raising concerns that the Open Internet order might restrict that response, particularly given the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices.

Commissioner Ajit Pai, speaking after the chairman, said he would be willing to work with Warner's staff to "try to get to the bottom of this" but said he thought the FCC's role on cybersecurity should primarily be as a consultant.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.