Network Neutrality

[Commentary] Congress doesn’t need to legislate on Net Neutrality. What it needs to do is rein in Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and the Trump FCC and get them to enforce the laws and rules already on the books. Of course, I’m not so naive to think that Pai isn’t going to go forward with a vote to take away Title II and probably erase the rules altogether as soon as December. But that won’t be the last word. Given the arbitrary and capricious way the agency has proceeded, I like our chances in court.

[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission et al have created a series of interconnected proposed rules, regulations and actions. Unfortunately, we, the public, are now facing at least 10-20+ different cuts into the public interest, (depending on how you count). Killing off net neutrality is just one of the many planned harms. While none of this is new, it is now a sped up, concealed, heavily funded and very well coordinated plan, aided by the ability of the companies to control the FCC’s votes.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) wants to repeal the current net neutrality rules — even if it takes amending antitrust law. But economist Hal Singer says that’s not the solution. While antitrust law has typically sought to address “concrete harms” like price increases, it hasn’t recognized what he calls “mild forms of discrimination.” That includes an ISP prioritizing one set of internet content over another to promote its own interests to the detriment of its competitors.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has generated an unprecedented number of comments, reply comments, ex parte filings, and other filings in the official record of the proceeding. To facilitate a review of the record, WC Docket No. 17-108, the FCC is making all filings submitted as of November 3, 2017 available via download. Parties interested in exploring the docket are encouraged to use these downloads. These downloads contain a complete set of filings submitted as of November 3, 2017.

[Commentary] While news reports overflow with examples of the Trump Administration pulling back on oversight of business, they’re missing the story in one key area: the administration’s aggressive move to restore Federal Trade Commission power to police the internet. While the Federal Communications Commission is charged with protecting the public interest, it ultimately lacks the staff, resources, and statutory authority needed for a true on-the-ground, national consumer protection effort.

Comcast and Verizon have both asked the Federal Communications Commission to make clear that the FCC's new policy on network neutrality — which could be put to a vote as early as Dec — will preempt state and local regulations that might read differently. The request marks the industry's latest step to weaken federal rules that regulate broadband companies like legacy telephone companies. The broadband industry fears that even if the FCC succeeds in deregulating, states could take steps “countermanding” the federal agency's decision, according to the Verizon white paper.

[Commentary] In a few weeks, it is widely expected that the Federal Communications Commission will release a draft order reversing the Obama Administration’s controversial 2015 decision to reclassify broadband internet access from a lightly-regulated “information” service under Title I of the Communications Act to a heavily-regulated common carrier “telecommunications” service under Title II of that same Act. As with the original 2015 decision, a court appeal of this policy change is a virtual certainty. Yet, even though the DC Circuit in USTelecom v.

House Communications and Technology Chairman Marsha Blackbur (R-TN) is open to using federal antitrust laws to fix the long-running debate over net neutrality. “It’s helpful to consider the complete spectrum of law shielding American consumers from anticompetitive behavior,” she said. “It’s clear that internet service providers are not the only potential roadblock standing between a consumer and his or her content of choice,” she said .

Comcast met with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's staff the week of Oct 30 in an attempt to prevent states from issuing network neutrality rules.

The House Antitrust Subcommittee took a whack at the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules Nov 1, specifically the role of antitrust law in governing broadband access provider conduct. That came as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is expected to circulate an order rolling back Title II classification of ISPs as early as later in Nov. It also came at about the same time that the FCC Democrats went to Capitol Hill to push back on that Pai proposal.