This week, we discuss the hotly contested, yet challenging, topic of net neutrality. On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to hold a vote on whether to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality rules. Supporters of net neutrality argue that repealing the rules will hurt consumers, allowing telecommunications companies to charge extra to access important parts of the internet.
Opponents of the net neutrality rules argue that they are a classic case of government overreach, stifling competition and innovation on the Internet.
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Justin (Gus) Hurwitz is Assistant Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Space, Cyber, and Telecom Law Program at Nebraska College of Law. He has testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on video regulation, participated in roundtable discussions hosted by the FCC, and his work has been cited by the FCC in its orders.
Travis LeBlanc is a Partner at the firm Boies Schiller Flexner. He previously served as the Chief of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, where he spearheaded hundreds of enforcement actions involving consumer protection, competition, compliance, and fraud, waste, and abuse.
Jeffrey Rosen is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Constitution Center, the only institution in America chartered by Congress “to disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a nonpartisan basis.” He is also a professor at The George Washington University Law School, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic.
Related Decisions and Briefs
- The FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order, adopted February 26, 2015 (including dissent of then-Commissioner Pai)
- Opinion in FTC v. AT&T (9th Cir. 2017), August 29, 2016
- Opinion in U.S. Telecom Assoc. v. FCC (D.C. Cir.2014), June 14, 2016
- Opinion in Verizon v. FCC, 740 F.3d 623 (D.C. Cir. 2014), January 14, 2014
- Opinion in Comcast Corp. v. FCC, 600 F.3d 642 (D.C. Cir. 2010), April 6, 2010
- The FCC’s Communications Act of 1934, enacted June 19, 1934
Additional Resources
Our Interactive Constitution is the leading digital resource about the debates and text behind the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution. Here, scholars from across the legal and philosophical spectrum interact with each other to explore the meaning of each provision of our founding document.
Common Interpretation
Article I, Section 1: General Principles By William N. Eskridge, Jr. and Neomi Rao
Matters of Debate
Article I, Section 1: The Delegation Doctrine by William N. Eskridge, Jr.
Article I, Section I: The Non-Delegation Principle Persists by Neomi Rao
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