Net neutrality refuses to die; is it some form of genetically-modified super-cat?

With a coalition of 23 Attorney Generals (AGs) asking Federal judges to reinstate net neutrality rules, you have to wonder what experiments have been conducted on net neutrality; how many lives does it actually have?

Led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, the coalition has filed a brief with United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to block the FCC’s rollback of net neutrality, which the AGs have deemed illegal. The brief is just another chapter in the saga of net neutrality, which despite the best efforts from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, refuses to disappear from the regulatory landscape.

“A free and open internet is critical to New York – and to our democracy,” said Underwood. “By repealing net neutrality, the FCC is allowing internet service providers to put their profits before consumers while controlling what we see, do, and say online.

“As we detail in our brief filed today, the rollback of net neutrality will have a devastating impact on millions of New Yorkers and Americans across the country, putting them at risk of abusive practices while undermining state and local regulation of the broadband industry. We’ll continue to fight to protect consumers’ right to a free and open internet.”

Aside from Underwood representing New York, AGs from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia, are providing the resistance to Pai.

The brief itself focuses on two areas. Firstly, the FCC’s order is arbitrary and capricious because it exposes the consumer to potential abuses from communications providers. And secondly, the AGs have deemed the FCC’s mission to undermine state regulations as illegal. While protecting the consumer is common rhetoric for this battle, the state versus federal jurisdiction fight is starting to emerge again.

The brief also seems to ask the Court of Appeals to apply some logic to the situation. Why should such a drastic reversal in regulation be allowed?

“For more than fifteen years, the Federal Communications Commission has agreed that an open Internet free from blocking, throttling, or other interference by service providers is critical to ensure that all Americans have access to the advanced telecommunications services that have become essential for daily life,” the brief states. “The recent Order represents a dramatic and unjustified departure from this long-standing commitment.”

While net neutrality has been officially banned from the rule books, the resistance to change is on-going. Pai is trying to remove every footnote and possible means a Democrat government could use to reinstate the rules, most recently he is trying to reverse the decision to classify telcos as common utilities, supporters are not making it easy. That said, the resistance could use a win pretty sharpish.

The AGs, internet players, privacy advocates and general busybodies do seem to be making life difficult for Pai, but the momentum is most certainly with FCC plans to eradicate net neutrality. The resistance is proving to be nothing more than an irritation at the moment, though a win in the courts would certainly provide genuine progress. Unfortunately, that win is yet to appear. Hopefully this brief will kickstart some action.