Net-Neutrality: Past, Present, and Future (Update)

This program, presented by Perkins Coie's Communications Industry Firmwide Chair, Marc Martin, provides an overview of the law, regulation and politics of Net Neutrality. Marc begins by providing an overview of what Net Neutrality is (and what it isn’t), the current legal status of the rules, and the resulting legal consequences. He addresses the roles of the Federal Communications Commission, the Congress, the White House, the courts, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Finally, Marc explains how Net Neutrality came about and its original intentions, how an ill-fated FCC enforcement order put the FCC’s jurisdictional authority in question, and how the DC Circuit Court provided the FCC with a legal roadmap for the agency’s order that it later affirmed. 

Learning Objectives: 

1. Understand how Net Neutrality came about and its original objectives
2. Discuss how an FCC enforcement action put Net Neutrality on an uncertain legal path before the FCC began to adopt final rules
3. Understand the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order
4. Know why the DC Circuit affirmed the FCC’s Open Internet Order
5. Learn about the spin-off implications, including the Broadband Privacy proposed rules and implications for FTC jurisdiction over common carriers
6. Consider where Net Neutrality is likely headed as it continues to navigate the shoals of Washington and the courts
7. Apply what it may mean to various industries and business models