Why it doesn't matter if network neutrality opponents "won" the FCC comment war

[Commentary] The vast majority of network neutrality comments -- Sunlight says 88 percent in the latest batch -- were form letters created with help from a handful of activist groups on either side of the fight. So the ratio of pro- and anti-network neutrality comments may tell us less about what voters think than about how well-funded each side's activist groups are.

More importantly, the agency comment process was never supposed to be a popularity contest. The ratio of comments on each side has never been an important factor in agency decision-making. One submission that raises an issue the agency hadn't considered before can be more valuable than a thousand from people who simply filled out a form on an activist group's website. But big-picture policy decisions -- especially those that are hotly contested by voters -- should be made by Congress itself. Congress is specifically organized to resolve political issues like this. It has hundreds of elected officials whose job is to represent the interests of their constituents.