Lots of thoughtful comment here Paul; thanks!

I think the thing that disappoints me most about this whole issue is the number of people in government who have made shallow remarks despite the fact they should know better.  The statement made by Genachowski is on the FCC site and it's very specific regarding the Internet versus broadband access.

The other sad truth is that Internet access started off being Title I and it was slid into Title II in 2005 with a very slippery justification.  The FCC said that the Internet was an "information service with a telecommunications component" and then declined to regulate the telecommunications component (broadband) under Title II where telecom is regulated!

My point here is pretty simple.  Most of us think some net neutrality rules are necessary, and in order to have them there has to be a legal foundation for them to be imposed.  The "old" foundation was killed by the Court of Appeals in the Comcast case, so we now need a new one.  Fixing a status ("telecommunications component") that shouldn't ever have been established is a good way to start.

That's particularly true when the FCC said very clearly that the Internet would stay Title I, an information service and unregulated.  The blurring of the categories that the old ruling created was in my view a worse risk down the road, because it imposed Title I on stuff that was clearly being used for non-Internet applications (parallel IP-based video, voice, etc.).  That means it might very well have been smart to turn over the 2005 ruling even if the Comcast case had passed muster with the Appeals Court.

Hey Tom,

It seems even those supporting the FCC's proposal are of the view that this latest FCC proposal is all about regulating the internet. Listen to what  Sen. Kerry was saying here:

" Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on Tuesday stressed the FCC would be within its legal bounds to reclassify broadband in a way that it can begin regulating it, though he quickly noted he was not yet "advocating that" kind of change".

Kerry: FCC has 'rationale' to consider broadband re-classification

It seems to be those who are opposing this re-classification proposal may just be sensing the 'devil in the details'. They might have interpreted this new proposal of putting broadband access under Title2 is just the precursor to putting the entire internet under Title2, which will give the FCC greater power to regulate the internet.

I'm also kind of surpirsed that you've been too conciliatroy with the FCC on this latest proposal. In my own little mind, I thought 'telecommunocation service' and 'Information service ' are mutually exclusive. So of that is the case, why do you think there is a basis for the FCC to just take broadband access which was previously classify under Title1 and then swicth it over to Title2? Do you also think the FCC might have resorted to this if the court ruling has been favorable to them?