Net neutrality debate: Far from over

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s much-anticipated network neutrality rules are barreling toward a final vote later in February -- but they’re almost guaranteed to become immediately mired in legal challenges.

“It will be sued upon,” predicted former Republican FCC Chairman Michael Powell, who now heads the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. “Appeals to the DC circuit, all by themselves, take a year and a half, two years,” he said. “The Administration may even be gone by the time a case is heard. That’s imagining it does not go to the Supreme Court." The drawn-out timeline means net neutrality’s fate may depend on the 2016 election. If a Republican ultimately wins the presidency, a GOP-led FCC could roll back Chairman Wheeler’s work if a court hands the issue back to the agency -- or the new chair could simply act to dump such rules. Nevertheless, a court decision that tosses any part of Chairman Wheeler’s work will likely create a legal and political void -- and offer critics an opportunity to scramble the debate again. "I’m not so sure Republicans won’t carry this into 2016,” Powell said, “and it becomes a political imperative, just like it did for Obama, the other way.”