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After Net Neutrality: The Return of the States

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This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

I recently discussed the Sixth Circuit decision classifying broadband as a Title I information service and effectively eliminating the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) general power to regulate broadband. But like nature, regulators abhor a vacuum. While closing the door to federal regulators, the decision also creates opportunities for states to act. This post examines the present and potential future of state-level broadband regulation.

Historically, state regulators were key players in the telecommunications space. The Communications Act of 1934 divided the telecommunications world into two neat hemispheres: The FCC regulated interstate long-distance service, while state commissions regulated local and intrastate long distance. This division of authority made sense in a world where 98 percent of calls were local, and long-distance calls were a luxury. But the Telecommunications Act of 1996 dramatically rearranged the balance of power between the federal government and the states. Meanwhile, local telephone service largely disappeared as a separate market, before communication shifted from the telephone to broadband networks. As a result, most states shuttered their telecommunications regulators early in the 21st century.

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Sixth Circuit Strikes Net Neutrality in Victory for Tech, Administrative Law

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This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

My fellow tech policy enthusiasts, our long national nightmare is over. Last week, the Sixth Circuit brought an end to the decade-long fight over net neutrality by prohibiting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from applying Title II common carrier regulation to broadband providers. The decision is a victory for tech policy, freeing Internet access from the shadow of overbearing regulation. It’s also a win for administrative law, as it aligns with the Supreme Court’s guidance that courts, not agencies, should resolve disputes over statutory interpretations. The ruling reaffirms the principle that important policy decisions should be made by Congress, not by agencies under the guise of interpreting ambiguous statutes.

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Assessing the Rosenworcel Era: Lessons for Incoming FCC Chairman Carr

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This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

Blair Levin is one of telecommunications policy’s respected elder statesmen. He served as chief of staff to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Reed Hundt, executive director of the National Broadband Plan, and played a key role for the Obama transition team. His insightful commentary on tech issues, offered from his current perches at Brookings and New Street Research, is followed closely by power players both in Washington and on Wall Street.

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Net Neutrality, and other FCC Initiatives Jeopardized Post-Chevron

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This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

It has been a big week for tech policy at the Supreme Court. As my AEI colleague Clay Calvert discussed, the NetChoice cases endorsed social media platforms’ First Amendment right of editorial control. But for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other agencies, Loper Bright, which overturned Chevron, looms largest. The FCC in particular has long benefited from Chevron’s command that agencies, not courts, are the primary arbiters of an ambiguous statute’s meaning. Overturning this regime, and restoring that authority to courts, is likely to pose additional challenges for net neutrality, digital discrimination, and other FCC initiatives that capitalized on ambiguous language to accomplish the agency’s policy objectives.

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