Broadband Adviser Picked by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Arrested on Fraud Charges

[image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images]

By Nick Statt, The Verge | 

A broadband adviser selected by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to run a federal advisory committee was arrested last week on claims she tricked investors into pouring money into a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The adviser, Elizabeth Pierce, is the former chief executive of Quintillion, an Alaska-based fiber optic cable provider operating out of Anchorage. In her capacity as CEO, Pierce allegedly raised more than $250 million from two New York-based investment companies using forged contracts with other companies guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue. Pierce resigned from Quintillion in August of last year, and she stepped down from her role in Pai’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) the following month.

PAI PICKED PIERCE LAST YEAR TO CHAIR HIS NEWLY CREATED BROADBAND ADVISORY GROUP

“As it turned out, those sales agreements were worthless because the customers had not signed them,” US attorney Geoffrey Berman said in prepared remarks, as reported by the WSJ. “Instead, as alleged, Pierce had forged counter-party signatures on contract after contract. As a result of Pierce’s deception, the investment companies were left with a system that is worth far less than Pierce had led them to believe.” Pierce was trying to raise money to help build out a fiber optic system that would wire Alaska with high-speed internet and better help connect it to networks in other US states. Pierce was charged with wire fraud last Thursday and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Pierce was tapped by Pai in April of last year to be the chair of the BDAC, which he formed “to accelerate the deployment of high-speed internet access, or broadband, by reducing and removing regulatory barriers to infrastructure investment.” According to broadband industry news and advocacy website Stop the Cap, Pierce may have gotten on Pai’s radar by complaining about how cumbersome it was to bring internet access to parts of the country like Alaska.

In a statement issued last week, Quintillion says it began cooperating with the Department of Justice as soon as allegations against Pierce surfaced last year. “Quintillion became aware of the situation regarding the alleged actions of Ms. Pierce last year, took swift action and self-reported to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Quintillion has been cooperating fully with the authorities during this ongoing investigation,” reads the company’s press release on the charges. The company goes on to say that “the ongoing investigation has not impacted Quintillion’s operations nor the quality of its services,” and that it “continues to move aggressively to extend its network and provide world-class telecommunications to Alaska and beyond.”

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Death Threats Against FCC Chairman Must Stop

Tony Perkins / January 10, 2018

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rolled back President Barack Obama’s “net neutrality” policy, Chairman Ajit Pai told reporters, “It’s not going to kill democracy.”

But could it kill him?

Federal officials are certainly concerned, now that a flood of death threats has reached a level most insiders say they’ve never seen. This is “routine for presidents and vice presidents,” sources say, “but highly unusual for heads of government agencies like the FCC.”

For the 44-year-old chief, the risks of the job were clear from his earliest days at the FCC. He tells horrifying stories about his house being surrounded by protestors, some lurking under his windows with signs of his children’s names.

“My kids are 5 and 3,” he told the Wall Street Journal in 2014. “It’s not pleasant.”

Now, the dangers to Pai and his family are so serious that the FCC head was forced to back out of a speech at one of the most important tech events of the year, the Consumer Electronics Show.

“Basically, if these threats are credible, you need armored vehicles—and I mean plural—not to mention area sweeps, aerial support, and Secret Service directly manning the commissioner at all times,” said a security expert familiar with the situation.

“There’s not the budget for staffing the Consumer Electronics Show from threats of that level,” he went on, explaining that Pai’s “detail is ill-equipped to protect against snipers, attackers, bombs, gas attacks, vehicular blockades, and other assassination attempts.”

Of course, the question on everyone’s minds is: Who cares this much about net neutrality?

Most people don’t even know what the FCC stands for, let alone who heads it. If it weren’t for Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction or Bono’s fleeting expletive, half the country probably wouldn’t know the agency existed.

As for net neutrality (which is about as misnamed as “marriage equality”), the issue has never been the stuff of mainstream political passion. It didn’t even get a passing mention in the presidential debates.

So what is it about this issue that’s leading an army of the far left to threaten an innocent man’s life?

Like most things, the crusade against Pai began in the dark shadows of Obama’s favorite radicals.

“The tech left, funded largely by George Soros, decided to champion under the banner of a benign-sounding ‘net neutrality’ campaign and seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to grab the moral high ground in their determination to allow the giant edge providers to censor the internet to suit their ideological preferences—ridding the internet of conservative and libertarian content,” Roger Stone explains in an eye-opening column for the Daily Caller.

Obama added the idea to his toolshed of unconstitutional crackdowns, all but demanding the FCC implement the policy in 2015.

As then-Commissioner Pai vented,

“Why is the FCC turning its back on internet freedom? Is it because we now have evidence that the internet is not open? No. Is it because we have discovered some problem with our prior interpretation of the law? No. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason alone. President Obama told us to do so.”

Essentially, Stone explains, the FCC “legalized censorship, allowing Soros-funded groups to run rampant spreading the most violent messages possible, while at the same time aggressively censoring Donald Trump supporters and patriotic Americans who desire only to make their country great again.”

The very opposite, he points out, of neutrality. Or, conservatives might add, the FCC’s mission.

For Pai, things only got worse. HBO host John Oliver kicked off a campaign called “Go FCC Yourself,” determined to gin up outrage (and worse) against the FCC chair. Liberals blocked the Pais’ driveway, while others savaged him on the FCC site, unloading on Pai as a “dirty, sneaky Indian.”

The rampage got so out of control that Oliver had to call on his own flock to tone down the threats. They didn’t.

The Pai doorbell rang every half hour “with pizza deliveries that they had not ordered,” Commentary Magazine’s Noah Rothman explained in his column about Pai’s tormentors. His neighborhood was plastered with fliers of Pai and his vitals, like something out of the FBI’s Most Wanted.

“Is this really the world you want Annabelle and Alexander to inherit,” read a hand-made sign affixed to a lamppost outside Pais’ residence in November, making a point to emphasize the names of Pai’s two children. “They will come to know the truth: Dad murdered democracy in cold blood,” read another.

The harassment of Pai and his family is a national outrage that should be a headline in every news outlet in America—especially considering the irony of the left’s position. These fanatics are attacking Pai on the same internet they’re complaining isn’t neutral. Only a liberal could keep a straight face.

For the rest of society, it’s just another example of the left’s ruthless and relentless intolerance. An intolerance, sadly, that too many in the media ignore—if not embrace.

As Pai said on “Washington Watch” in November, this culture of cruelty must stop.

Read more at THE DAILY SIGNAL

Photo credit: FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his family have been harassed and received death threats amid the net neutrality debate. (Photo: Ron Sachs/CNP/AdMedia/Newscom)

 

 

 

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Video: Leftists Embrace Domestic Terrorism, Call For Assassination Of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Over Repeal Of Net Neutrality Rules

The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to “dismantle” Obama-era rules that regulated the businesses that connect Americans to the internet in a move that the left has breathlessly attacked since its announcement.

The so-called net neutrality regulations were supposedly put in place to prohibit broadband providers from blocking websites and or charging consumers for higher-quality services or to watch certain content such as Netflix.

“The action reversed the agency’s 2015 decision, during the Obama administration, to have stronger oversight over broadband providers as Americans have migrated to the internet for most communications. It reflected the view of the Trump administration and the new F.C.C. chairman that unregulated business will eventually yield innovation and help the economy,” reported The New York Times.

“It will take weeks for the repeal to go into effect, so consumers will not see any of the potential changes right away. But the political and legal fight started immediately. Numerous Democrats on Capitol Hill called for a bill that would reestablish the rules, and several Democratic state attorneys general, including Eric T. Schneiderman of New York, said they would file a suit to stop the change.”

While The New York Times noted that the “legal fight” has started immediately, they failed to even acknowledge the numerous calls for violence against the Republican chairman of the FCC that included direct threats of assassination.

“I hope a dark web assassin kills Ajit Pai,” one of the disgusting Tweets read. “Can someone please kill this subhuman scum? read another.

As Infowars.com reported, “Does net neutrality cripple innovation or encourage it? Ultimately the FCC would vote to release the internet back to its pre-Obama days in the wild, but more death threats against FCC Chairman Ajit Pai weigh in on Twitter. It’s the way the left operates now as they embrace domestic terrorism unchecked in the face of our Republic.”

One can only imagine what the mainstream media would be doing if Trump supporters openly called for the death of a Democratic politician….

Nationwide Net Neutrality Protests Planned For Thursday

Last Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its plan to reverse net neutrality regulations that were put in place under the Obama administration in 2015. Net neutrality is the concept that all internet traffic should be treated equally by internet service providers (ISPs), regardless of the content that is delivered or who it was created by.

Statista"s Felix Richter explains that the new proposal, named the Restoring Internet Freedom order, would no longer classify ISPs as public utilities but rather as information services, meaning that telecommunication companies such as Comcast or Verizon would be legally allowed to create so-called fast lanes for content by providers that either pay for preferential treatment or that the ISP itself has a financial stake in, such as Comcast has in NBC Universal. While the FCC argues that scrapping net neutrality rules would boost investments and innovation by limiting government regulation, advocates of net neutrality argue that the concept creates a level playing field for content providers and fear that getting rid of net neutrality would stifle competition and further increase concentration in the online media landscape.

As Statista"s chart below, based on a Consumer Reports survey, shows, the majority of Americans support the current net neutrality rules and don’t think that ISPs should be allowed to regulate what content their customers can access.

You will find more statistics at Statista

Considering the Republican majority in the commission, it is expected to pass regardless of the vocal opposition from companies and consumers alike.

More than 600 demonstrations are planned at Verizon stores across the United States on Thursday amid the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) plan to kill net neutrality.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made it clear last month that the FCC will vote on the fate of net neutrality on December 14. The rules currently prohibit internet service providers from charging extra fees, censorship and throttling website speeds.

The rollback is expected to pass the FCC vote next week. However, that is not stopping Demand Progress, Fight for the Future and the Freepress Action Fund who have formed the coalition called “Battle for the Net”.

Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future said in a statement: “This is the free speech fight of our generation and internet users are pissed off and paying attention. Ajit Pai may be owned by Verizon, but he has to answer to Congress, and lawmakers have to answer to us, their constituents.”

Common Dreams, a non-profit news-oriented website claims, since Pai revealed his plan to kill net neutrality rules back in mid-November, public outrage has continued to expand– despite the lack of coverage from major media outlets. Since the phone lines opened on November 21, more than 774,325 calls have flooded congressional phone lines.

On Thursday, Americans will take to the streets outside their local Verizon stores and congressional offices to protest against rolling back net neutrality, exactly one week ahead of the FCC’s planned vote.

Mark Stanley, director of communications for Demand Progress said, “With what would be a catastrophic vote by the FCC to repeal net neutrality looming, people are ready to take to the streets in protest and to offer Congress one last chance to answer the question: ‘Do you stand for your constituents’ ability to communicate and connect, or do you stand for Verizon’s bottom line?”

Verizon stores were chosen as the premiere site for the demonstrations because  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai previously was the company’s associate general counsel from 2001 to 2003.

The FCC has gone rogue. Congress: do your job and stop @AjitPaiFCC from killing #NetNeutrality on Dec 14. https://t.co/xSJHbLq2Wn

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) December 4, 2017

Do you think Facebook, Google, and Twitter have too much power? Killing #NetNeutrality would give them even more by squashing startups and competition. Let"s save it: https://t.co/S8d0OxZQe0 pic.twitter.com/p1iVxtVx5p

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) December 5, 2017

Do you think Facebook, Google, and Twitter have too much power? Killing #NetNeutrality would give them even more by squashing startups and competition. Let"s save it: https://t.co/S8d0OxZQe0 pic.twitter.com/p1iVxtVx5p

— Fight for the Future (@fightfortheftr) December 5, 2017

 

Below is a list of websites, companies, and organizations who are defending net neutrality:

Here are the companies who want to end net neutrality:

Common Dreams said 27 senators including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have sent Pai a letter on Monday demanding the FCC to delay the vote. Also, 40 consumer protection groups have sent a letter to Pai asking for a delay as well.

Building on the outrage expressed by the American public, a group of 27 senators including Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) delivered a letter to Pai on Monday demanding that the FCC vote be delayed in the face of evidence that the public “record may be replete with fake or fraudulent comments, suggesting that your proposal is fundamentally flawed.”

 

A coalition of over 40 consumer protection groups also called on the FCC to postpone its vote on repealing net neutrality in a letter to Pai on Monday, citing a pending court case that could ultimately “leave consumers at the mercy of internet service providers.”

The attempt seemed promising on Monday, but earlier on Tuesday the FCC rejected all calls to delay the net neutrality vote, according to The Hill.

The FCC said in a statement Monday that “the vote will proceed as scheduled on December 14.” In a separate statement provided to Ars Technica, the FCC hit back at those seeking a delay:

This is just evidence that supporters of heavy-handed Internet regulations are becoming more desperate by the day as their effort to defeat Chairman Pai’s plan to restore Internet freedom has stalled. 

With the delay thwarted by the FCC, and over 600 demonstration sites planned at Verizon locations across the nation on Thursday, and with the US already in a state of constant and belligerent outrage, one wonders what else could possibly go wrong on the day the US government itself at risk of being shut down.