Statement From Advertising Trade Associations Urging Rapid Congressional Action on FCC Broadband Privacy Rule

A Commpro News Update

Today several advertising trade associations issued a statement in support of Senator Jeff Flake and Congressman Marsha Blackburn's recently introduced Joint Resolutions disapproving of the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") broadband privacy regulations.  The trade associations included were: The American Association of Advertising Agencies ("4A's), American Advertising Federation ("AAF"), Association of National Advertisers ("ANA"), Data & Marketing Association ("DMA"), Interactive Advertising Bureau ("IAB"), and Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI").

The statement read:

"We wholeheartedly commend Senator Flake and Congressman Blackburn, and their Senate and House colleagues, for introducing resolutions of disapproval for the FCC's ill-considered move to create a new, costly, counterproductive, confusing and unnecessary regulatory regime around privacy for broadband providers. Our digital economy is the global leader, providing billions of dollars in ad-supported content and services to consumers, and the innovation and investment that have driven its success have rested on robust, consistent self-regulatory privacy standards backstopped by the Federal Trade Commission. Without prompt action in Congress or at the FCC, the FCC's regulations would break with well-accepted and functioning industry practices, chilling innovation and hurting the consumers the regulation was supposed to protect. The Congressional Review Act was designed as a common-sense check on anti-consumer regulations like this, and we are pleased that Senator Flake, Congressman Blackburn, and their colleagues are using it to such positive effect. We strongly urge Congress to support and quickly act on these Joint Resolutions."

The organizations involved are amongst the top trade associations in both the advertising and marketing industries.  Together, they represent more than 5,000 corporations across country, and participate in and shape today's media landscape, and also lead an industry effort to create robust, enforceable, cross-industry self-regulatory principles regarding the collection and use of web browsing and application use history data through the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA").