Regulatory classification

Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) hosted an invite-only roundtable discussion, hoping to gather stakeholder input on how to best address efforts to maintain an appropriately open internet system. "We tried to get every position represented in the room," said Rep. Curtis. "We had (internet service providers), edge providers and both large and small tech businesses.

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has set briefing deadlines in the challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality repeal. Mozilla, state attorneys general and other groups fighting the FCC’s rollback will file their arguments Aug. 20. The Internet Association, Computer & Communications Industry Association and other organizations bolstering their case will file Aug. 27. The FCC has to respond Oct. 11, and the telecom associations backing the agency, including CTIA and USTelecom, will file their briefs Oct. 18. Final briefs in the case are due Nov. 27.

Voters across four key battleground Congressional districts (CA-25, CO-06, FL-18, NY-19) overwhelmingly support net neutrality and want their member of Congress to force a vote to overturn the FCC and restore net neutrality protections. Support for net neutrality is broad and bipartisan, and moves independents and undecided voters toward a member of Congress willing to take immediate action. Furthermore, a majority of independents and undecideds in the battleground districts tested say net neutrality will be an important factor in determining their vote in the midterm election

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) won’t be the second Republican to support Democrats’ Congressional Review Act effort to revive Obama-era net neutrality rules, a Young spokeswoman confirmed. Fight for the Future relayed an Alaskan business owner’s account of Rep Young privately pledging, she said, to sign the Democrats’ discharge petition to force a CRA floor vote. Rep.

Internet advocates have updated a scoreboard they have compiled that shows internet users how efforts to overturn the Federal Communications Commission decision to rescind network neutrality protections in 2017 are working. The scoreboard, which has been used in some form for months and was created by a coalition of internet rights groups called Battle For The Net, allows users to select their state and see whether or not their lawmakers have voiced support for the Congressional Review Act (CRA) effort, which needs a simple majority in the House of Representatives to pass.

Watch for network neutrality arguments in future antitrust analysis of mergers, competition lawyers said. The Justice Department’s high-profile attempt to block AT&T from buying Time Warner didn’t address the possibility that the AT&T customers could see slowed internet traffic for some content. But that kind of argument could come up one day. The DOJ has looked at past merger cases on the grounds of its impact on open internet access said Ketan Jhaveri, a former trial lawyer at the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.

[Analysis] On July 17, 2018, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) changed the network neutrality debate. Through two bold steps, Rep. Coffman disrupted the ongoing Republican vs Democrat divide on the issue and became, perhaps, the most prominent Republican to not just provide lip service to the “open internet,” but to make a positive proposal to enshrine net neutrality consumer protections for broadband users. First, Rep. Coffman introduced legislation that would amend U.S. communications law to provide for internet openness requirements for broadband internet access service providers.

The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a bill that would require internet service providers to provide more transparency related to net neutrality and consumer privacy.

I applaud Rep. Coffman for signing the net neutrality discharge petition. The Joint Resolution of Disapproval of the FCC’s December 14, 2017 net neutrality repeal order is the fastest and best way to restore FCC authority to protect consumers and competition in the broadband market. Surely his constituents will appreciate his leadership in taking this important step.

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) introduced a bill that would codify network neutrality regulations into law. Titled The 21st Century Internet Act, the measure would institute the basic outlines of the Federal Communication Commission’s 2015 Open Internet order, which banned the throttling and blocking of content as well as harmful paid prioritization practices.