Net Neutrality in the Courts: Two Cases, Two Courts; The One You Have Been Following, And The One You May Have Forgotten About

After months of relative inactivity, there will soon be some important movement in litigation over the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules. The fact that there are two different cases in two different courts litigating over two different decisions is likely to cause considerable confusion in the coming weeks. On Monday, August 20, challengers will be filing their initial briefs in their appeal of the Trump Administration FCC’s oxymoronic “Restoring Internet Freedom” order. The case is pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.  On August 27, a number of tech industry groups that intervened in support of the appeal will file their brief, as will a dozen or so groups that will file briefs as friends of the court. The FCC and the Department of Justice will file their opposition brief on October 11, followed by an opposition brief supporting the FCC order from Internet service providers on October 18. The challengers will file a reply brief on November 16. Once the briefing is concluded, the case will be ready to be scheduled for oral argument, which will probably be held early in 2019. (The makeup of the three-judge panel -- critical to assessing the likely outcome of the case -- will not be announced until shortly before the argument.)