Background:
The term “net neutrality” was coined by Columbia Law School Profesor Timothy Wu. https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/timothy-wu. The concept was then introduced by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin as a policy statement in 2008, which led to the first of many net neutrality fights – this one over the alleged throttling practices of Comcast allegedly applied to an Internet rival, Bit Torrent. Eventually, the FCC adopted the first net neutrality (“Open Internet”) order in 2010. For more on the agency’s first attempt at Net Neutrality regulation, please see https://www.slideserve.com/liam/contents-1277519-powerpoint-ppt-presentation.
Since then, our Firm has been engaged in the net neutrality saga, representing clients on compliance and navigation through the many FCC rule changes that fluctuated with each change of the U.S. Administration. For a brief history leading up to first, the adoption of Obama-era utility regulations governing broadband providers in 2015, then second, their dismantling by the Republican FCC in 2017, please see our monograph, The Rise & Fall of Net Neutrality at https://wstelecomlaw.com/news/brochures/.
For a more detailed presentation on the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Order dismantling the 2015 Obama-era rules, please see our webinar presentation for Thomson Reuters.
But History is now repeating itself. The new Democratic controlled FCC has commenced a new proceeding intent on reinstating the 2015 Obama-era rules. For a summary of the resurrected Open Internet rules, please see our presentation, “Net Neutrality Redux”.
The FCC adopted the proposed Open Internet Order on April 15, 2024. For a summary, please see our client alert: Reinstatement of the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Rules: What’s Next?
On June 28, 2024, we held our latest webinar on Net Neutrality (Part III), discussing the FCC’s readopted Open Internet rules and their likely disposition on appeal. See excerpts, “NN Part III – Excerpts” and accompanying Alert, “Open Internet Alert”. For a copy of the recording, please visit Thomson Reuters WetEd Legal Center and search for “Net Neutrality”. https://westlegaledcenter.com/home/homepage.jsf?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyJ6C9Zj4hwMVwTUIBR3j-REmEAAYASAAEgKqhfD_BwE
Coincidentally, on the same day as our webinar, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, struck down the long-standing “Chevron deference” doctrine. This 40-year-old precedent, now overturned, had mandated deference to reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes by federal agencies charged with the statute’s administration. As discussed in our alert and webinar, this important development will affect the appeal and eventual disposition of the FCC’s resurrected Open Internet Rules. Our discussion proved prescient as the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the effectiveness of the Rules, pending oral argument this fall. Stay tuned for the latest developments as we post them on our website.