Now that most of the Open Internet Order has been struck down, what happens next? Forbes’ Emma Woolacott looks at Tuesday’s Net Neutrality ruling and potential next steps, including TechFreedom’s analysis:
Certainly, according to Geoffrey Manne, lecturer in law at the Lewis & Clark Law School and Berin Szoka, president of tech policy think tank TechFreedom, the FCC has the right to require that any deals between broadband and content providers be reasonable and non-discriminatory, as long as it doesn’t treat broadband providers as common carriers.
“But even that limitation could easily be evaded if the FCC regulates through case-by-case enforcement actions, as it tried to do before issuing the Open Internet Order,” they write in an analysis of the decision. “Either way, the FCC need only make a colorable argument under Section 706 that its actions are designed to ‘encourage the deployment… of advanced telecommunications services’. If the FCC’s tenuous ‘triple cushion shot’ argument could satisfy that test, there is little limit to the deference the FCC will receive.”
Indeed, they go further, suggesting that the FCC may now have authority over the internet of things: “Section 706 covers ‘advanced telecommunications’, which seems to include any information service, from broadband to the interconnectivity of smart appliances like washing machines and home thermostats,” they say.
Read the full article here, and check out our more detailed analysis in Wired.