The "hands off the Internet" era is over. The Federal Communications Commission's recent decision that ruled that Comcast's use of network management techniques violated its Internet Policy Statement confirms that the federal government is not content to allow broadband providers to operate free from any form of regulatory oversight. Broadband providers now need to defend their network management practices as "reasonable." Nevertheless, it remains to be seen what institutional strategy will be effective in answering the no longer hypothetical question of what constitutes "reasonable network management."
