We All Agree on Net Neutrality, Except When We Don’t…Again

On Feb 7, the House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing, “Preserving an Open Internet for Consumers, Small Businesses, and Free Speech,” another conversation on net neutrality and an opportunity for lawmakers to spend three hours claiming they support an open internet, while rehashing old, partisan debates and making little progress towards a legislative solution. Lawmakers squabbled over key disagreements: Did net neutrality rules decrease investment in broadband networks? Can we have enforceable net neutrality rules without Title II protections? What should actually be included in net neutrality legislation?  While we wait on the courts to decide the fate of the FCC's 2017 repeal of net neutrality protections, we are left wondering: How can internet users be protected from net neutrality violations until we have that legislation?