Comcast Is Pushing For a Flimsy Net Neutrality Law it Knows Telecom Lobbyists Will Write

Even if the Federal Communications Commission wins in court, large Internet serivce providers still need to find a way to prevent any future FCCs from simply reinstating the network neutrality rules. That’s why the same giant ISPs that backed the FCC’s assault on net neutrality are now pushing for a “legislative solution” in Congress. The goal: they want a law that contains so many loopholes as to be effectively meaningless, yet prevents the FCC from crafting any real, tough laws down the road. And they know that with this incarnation of Congress so awash in campaign contributions, that big telecom lawyers will be the ones writing it.

All told, expect the ISP push for a new “legislative fix” to ramp up in the new year. The push will likely be cheered by an army of ISP-tied consultants, think tankers, and loyal lawmakers like Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-SD), who you should note parroted Comcast’s call for a “bipartisan legislative solution” nearly verbatim in a speech applauding the net neutrality repeal recently.  Except supporters of net neutrality need to be wary of a such a legislative trap. The solution being offered here won’t be real net neutrality, but an effort to codify federal apathy to a lack of broadband competition into law. With the express purpose of preventing tough, real rules down the road. If you care about net neutrality, your best bet is to either hope the FCC loses its upcoming court cases, or wait until voters can build a Congress not quite so mindlessly beholden to ISP campaign contributions before crafting such a law. A net neutrality law would be a great idea in a world where Comcast and AT&T don’t literally write and buy awful state and federal telecom legislation on a daily basis. That, if you hadn’t quite noticed yet, isn’t the world we’re currently living in.