The Political Dumpster Fire Of Net Neutrality Is Just Heating Up

After the FCC’s vote to scrap its net neutrality regulations, activists will turn to lawsuits, Congress—and the 2018 election. Lawsuits probably won’t be filed until at least January, but it’s already clear that they will challenge the FCC’s vote on both substance and process. The substance argument is a legalistic, almost existential, debate over the true nature of an ISP.  What’s kept the fire burning all these years is the fight over two lousy choices for how to legally classify an ISP. Is it a “telecommunications service,” like an analog telephone line, which just passes information along? Or is it an “information service,” which makes some modifications or enhancements to the data?Having spent years establishing that ISPs are like telephone companies, the FCC is suddenly reversing course, the lawsuits will claim. The process arguments will charge that the FCC was sloppy and arrogant in how it implemented its plan.