Today's Open Internet Debate Is About Popularity Not Public Policy

[Commentary] We keep hearing that the Federal Communications Commission should reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service and subject it to a litany of new rules and fees in order to protect and preserve the open Internet. The theory is that reclassification is the only way to really enforce open Internet rules, despite the fact that the FCC has almost entirely prevented open Internet violations under its current authority, overseeing broadband as an information service. What’s more, reclassification would not prevent the creation of fast lanes  -- as long as they’re dubbed “differentiated services” ISPs have leeway under Title II to create new levels of priority service.

So what, then, is the real reason some folks are so hot and heavy for reclassification? It comes down to popularity. In the absence of a real understanding of how the FCC’s authority works and what its proposed rules actually mean, it’s been easy to create a compelling narrative around the theory that preserving the open Internet requires reclassification. Despite evidence that the FCC can effectively enforce its open Internet rules without reclassification, the way things are playing out, popularity may trump sound policymaking in the end.

[Kristal Taylor is, according to her blog post, a "momtrepreneur, innovator, advocate, legal mind - creative spirit, blogger, dichotomous conundrum, duplexity of complexity, shaken not stirred, lover of life"]