Net Neutrality Oral Argument is Wake-up Call on Need for Legislative Solution

WASHINGTON—The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation released the following statement from Doug Brake, telecommunications policy analyst, on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) defense of its net neutrality rules in today's USTelecom v. FCC oral argument:

Today's oral argument should serve as a wake-up call on the need for a legislative solution to the decade-old problem of finding legal authority for open Internet rules. Title II broadband classification is the FCC's latest attempt at jurisdictional improvisation that appears likely to fall in court yet again.

The sharp questions from Judges Tatel and Williams make clear the FCC's classification of broadband Internet access as a common carrier likely pushes beyond the boundaries of the agency's deference. As ITIF has previously argued, it's time to put the FCC's authority on firm legal footing with legislation that avoids the weighty baggage of Title II's Depression-era utility-style of regulation.