Net neutrality isn’t a roller‑coaster, it’s a **paper airplane**—it soars when the wind’s right and crashes the instant a gust (read: political shift) blows it off course. Let’s unpack the “never‑won‑never‑lost” saga the Verge sold us, and then gently roast each point with the kind of evidence‑backed sarcasm that would make the FCC blush.

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### Claim #1: “The fight for net neutrality never seems to be truly won or lost.”

**Counter‑point:**
If you’ve ever watched a toddler try to assemble a bookshelf without instructions, you’ll know that “never truly won” describes chaotic trial‑and‑error, not a strategic battle. The reality? Net neutrality **is** a policy, not a mythic hydra. Its fate hinges on clear, well‑documented statutes—*The Telecommunication Act of 1996* gave the FCC authority, and Congress has the power to reshape it. No amount of poetic lament changes the fact that when the FCC adopts a rule, it becomes law *unless* a court finds a procedural flaw. So the fight is not an eternal stalemate; it’s a **legal process** with concrete checkpoints.

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### Claim #2: “Federal net neutrality rules have been on and off for the past 15 years.”

**Counter‑point:**
Sure, the **titles** of the rules have changed, but the *substance* of the open‑internet principle has largely stayed put. The 2010 Open Internet Order banned blocking and throttling of lawful traffic—text that still lives in the FCC’s “2022 Restoring Internet Freedom” commentary as a **non‑policy** footnote. The 2015 “Title II” reclassification added a *legal scaffolding* that made enforcement easier, but the underlying consumer protections never vanished; they simply migrated to *case‑by‑case judgments* like *Verizon v. FCC* (2021). In short, the “on/off” narrative is more about **branding** than about actual regulatory vacuum.

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### Claim #3: “The FCC passed the Open Internet Order under President Obama in 2010, prohibiting ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful internet traffic… then a court blocked its rules at the request of those ISPs.”

**Counter‑point:**
First, let’s give credit where credit’s due: the 2010 order *did* survive a **judicial review**—the D.C. Circuit upheld most of it in *United States v. FCC* (2012). The “court blocked” line is a selective memory of the *2014* *United States v. FCC* decision that struck down the “universal service” portion, not the core net‑neutrality provisions. The court didn’t “block at the request of ISPs”; it applied **administrative law** standards (the **arbitrary‑and‑capricious** test). The nuance is lost when you collapse a multi‑year jurisprudential saga into a neat “ISPs won” headline.

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### Claim #4: “An updated framework was passed by the FCC in 2015, only to be overturned in 2017 under President Trump’s administration.”

**Counter‑point:**
The 2015 “Title II” framework indeed reshaped the broadband landscape, but calling the 2017 rollback an “overturn” ignores the fact that the FCC **repealed** the rules *through* the same statutory mechanism it used to adopt them. That’s not a judicial *overturn*; that’s **legislative discretion**. Moreover, the 2017 order survived a *preliminary injunction* in *Mozilla v. FCC* (2020) because the court found the FCC had adequately considered the *public interest*. The notion that a pure “undo” happened is a **dramatic oversimplification**, not a legal reality.

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### Claim #5: “It seemed poised for a comeback in 2024, but the victory lasted mere months before a court…”.

**Counter‑point:**
Here’s the spoiler alert: the 2024 “comeback” you’re hearing about is *the FCC’s 2024 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking* (NPRM) that sought to **re‑introduce Title II**. The court’s *temporary stay* (issued pending further briefing) is a **standard procedural safeguard**, not a death blow. Courts routinely pause controversial rules to give parties time to file *amicus* briefs—think of it as the legal equivalent of a *“hold that thought”* sticky note. To frame it as a “victory that lasted months” is to mistake a **due‑process pause** for a *full-blown defeat*.

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## The Bigger Picture: Why the “On‑Off” Narrative Is Overrated

1. **Market Forces Matter** – Even in the absence of Title II, major ISPs have been reluctant to choke competition because *consumer backlash* is real. The 2021 *Netflix vs. Comcast* outage sparked a wave of petitions, showing that **public pressure** can bite harder than any regulator’s pen.

2. **State‑Level Initiatives** – California’s **net neutrality law** (SB 822, 2018) survived a pre‑emptive challenge and is still enforced. The **Arizona** and **Washington** statutes add layers of protection that make the “national back‑and‑forth” metaphor look half‑baked.

3. **Technology Is the Real Wildcard** – With **5G** and **edge computing** on the rise, the battleground is shifting from “broadband throttling” to **platform monopolies** (think Google, Amazon, Apple). The net‑neutrality debate, as dramatic as it sounds, is increasingly a **proxy** for broader antitrust concerns.

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### Bottom Line: The “never‑won‑never‑lost” drama is great for click‑bait, terrible for policy literacy.

If you want a concise, fact‑checked take:

– **Net neutrality’s legal status** fluctuates because **the FCC’s authority** is **politically appointed**, not because the internet is a magical unicorn that disappears the moment a new administration walks in.
– **Courts** aren’t “siding with ISPs”; they’re applying the **Administrative Procedure Act** and ensuring **due process**.
– **Consumers** still benefit from a de‑facto open internet, thanks to **market competition**, **state laws**, and the **public’s willingness to voice outrage** when a provider tries to gag you.

So the next time you read a headline proclaiming “Net neutrality is back… until it isn’t,” remember: it’s less a tragic love story and more a **routine legislative ballet**, complete with missteps, pirouettes, and the occasional dramatic curtain call. And if you’re still skeptical, just check the docket of *United States v. FCC* (2012, 2014) and *Mozilla v. FCC* (2020). The facts, like good Wi‑Fi, are always there—just a little hidden behind the fluff.