What next for network neutrality? Lawsuits galore

Now what for network neutrality? After Verizon Communication's announced last week a legal challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's controversial order, analysts say a lawsuit showdown is probably in the works.

Verizon filed their suit in the same federal court of appeals where the FCC was told it overstepped its authority by sanctioning Comcast for blocking BitTorrent traffic. "If the case remains in the same appeals court that reined in FCC Internet oversight less than 12 months ago, there's a reasonable chance open-Internet guidelines narrowly approved by the FCC late last month will fall by the wayside," said Jeffrey Silva, senior policy director for Global Medley Advisors. "If that occurs, it will be difficult for Democrats to resurrect net neutrality in the altered political landscape." To prevent that from happening, experts say proponents of the FCC's network neutrality rule will likely file suits in other courts to try to move the case out of DC. The way things work, that could trigger a lottery to determine where the case is ultimately heard. Verizon will likely fight to keep the case in the DC appeals court. But even with all the legal wrangling of armies of lawyers in Washington DC for and against the order, the FCC's first time Internet access rules will stand. "Companies and customers will have become even more accustomed to living in a world with a basic set of net neutrality rules," wrote Rebecca Arbogast and David Kaut, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. "And we would expect the FCC to continue to impose the rules in other mergers that come its way, as it and DOJ did with Comcast-NBCU."