Brand X & Network Neutrality

So I was actually a little surprised by the paucity of non-ad. law reasoning
in Brand X -- confirming a suspicion that ad law can often does little but
make the underlying policy question completely unintelligible. No one really
understands Chevron v. Mead anyhow, and from what I can tell this has just
made things worse.

But on the merits. Hopefully Brand X is good news: it gives the FCC room to
try and ignite all-out warfare between cable, DSL, and whatever else. The
battles with independent ISPs at some point had become a distraction and a
sideshow that may have slowed deployment. Some will disagree with me, but I
have long thought Title II or open access requirements for broadband as just
a form of protection for a declining industry.

Yet Brand X may also have an unexpected consequence: increased pressure for
Congressional passage of basic network neutrality rules, perhaps as part of
Telecom reform. As independent ISPs largely cease to be relevant for
broadband, expect a clamor for something else to protect applications like
VoIP, Internet television, and whatever the future may hold from an untimely
death through duopoloy.