VIDEO: Robert McDowell announces resignation from #FCC @WCIT #netfreedom

At the FCC’s Open Agenda meeting on Wednesday March 20 2013, Commissioner Robert McDowell announced his resignation. Video is below.

Republican McDowell has during his tenure earned the respect of all sides for his stalwart support of an Open Internet. Public Knowledge issued the following statement:

“Although we often disagreed, working with Commissioner McDowell was a pleasure. His willingness to hear opposing views, the intellectual rigor in his analysis, and his leadership at the WCIT made him someone we enjoyed working with. “Commissioner McDowell deserves enormous credit for defending TV white spaces in its darkest hour and pushing back against House Republicans who saw no value in preserving unlicensed spectrum.”

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Commissioner McDowell appeared on C-SPAN’s The Communicators program on March 19, a day before his surprise announcement, where he discussed issues such as spectrum auctions due in 2014, internet freedom, and the FCC’s recent approval of a deal to merge T-Mobile and MetroPCS.