We Need Straightforward Rules to Protect Net Neutrality

[Commentary] Telecommunications lawyers just can't stop coming up with complicated answers to simple problems. The reason the Federal Communications Commission lost its network neutrality case at the DC Circuit was simple. It tried to both de-regulate broadband access, by classifying it as an "information service" (something like a website or a social network), while applying traditional "telecommunications" rules to it -- things like prohibitions on blocking content and discriminating against competing services. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said -- sorry, FCC. If you want to treat broadband access like a communications service, you need to formally classify it as one. Clever legal tricks aren't going to get you around this. Apart from that legal technicality, the court did find that the FCC put forward a good case as to why net neutrality rules are needed. Reclassifying broadband access is a clear, and importantly, simple path toward bringing back these important protections, in a way that is on much firmer legal footing.