The Restoring Internet Freedom Order on Remand: Next Steps for the Federal Communications Commission

In Mozilla v. FCC, the D.C. Circuit upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s 2018 Restoring Internet Freedom Order in which the current Commission rejected the Obama Administration’s 'net neutrality' efforts to impose legacy common carrier regulation on the Internet and returned broadband Internet access service to a “light touch” regulatory regime under Title I of the Communications Act. Mozilla was not a complete victory for the Commission, however. Not only did the D.C. Circuit reverse the FCC’s broad efforts to preempt categorically state efforts to regulate the Internet, but the court remanded several issues to the Commission for further explanation, including how reclassification affects access to pole attachments, how reclassification affects the ability to include broadband in the FCC’s Lifeline program, and how reclassification affects public safety. Last March, the Commission issued a public notice to refresh the record in this case, and the comment period is on-going. Please join our panel of experts to discuss the legal issues at bar and how the FCC should respond to the court.

Featuring:
-- Matthew Brill, Partner, Latham & Watkins, LLP
-- Kristine (Fargotstein) Hackman, Vice President, Policy & Advocacy at USTelecom – The Broadband Association
-- Russell Hanser, Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP
-- Moderator: Lawrence J. Spiwak, President, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies