The FCC has received lawsuit after lawsuit from a number of ISPs and businesses that are designed to disaffect the government agency's votes in favor of re-categorizing the Internet in a way that would protect the principle of net neutrality in America. One would think that such a set of lawsuits would freak out the leadership and cause them to doubt what they've done. But FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who headed up the re-categorization of the internet, isn't worried.
Wheeler re-expressed his belief in what the FCC's vote and its legality during his visit to TechCrunch Disrupt on Monday morning. Wheeler was even willing to say that he was "pretty confident" about the outcome of the cases, and that his plan was to simply "not lose."
"If the sight of cable companies and content providers putting up a fight comes as any kind of shock, you haven't been paying attention. Immediately after the Commission revealed its new set of rules, players like AT&T and Verizon hastily issued public policy blog posts denouncing the move, and it was long after that before the lawsuits started rolling in en masse," reports Engadget.
When asked about the lawsuits, Wheeler just shrugged them off. "The Big Dogs will sue on the things they don't like, and it's their right," he said.
Wheeler explained while on stage that "the Verizon decision that overturned the 2010 Net Neutrality rules was based on the concept that the FCC tried to impose Title II-like requirements without actually coming out and saying these companies are Title II common carriers. Even with parts of the Telecommunications Act subject to forbearance here - meaning some things just won't apply to keep regulatory meddling to a minimum - there's just no ambiguity anymore."
This lack of ambiguity is more than enough evidence for Wheeler. However, the FCC chairman did not comment on any of the congressional attempts at disrupting the Title II vote or on Rand Paul's recently submitted bill that would nullify the FCC's vote on Title II.
