El Reg authors really ought to learn some US law
before going off on a politically motivated screed against a major US industry.
"Trying to refrain, or 'forbear,' from applying most of Title II’s 1,000 heavy-handed requirements while selecting only a few (as proposed by Chairman Wheeler and the White House) will make an FCC order impossible to defend in court because picking and choosing between who gets regulated and who doesn’t will look arbitrary and politically driven to appellate judges," he argues.
This isn't some throwaway line like The Big 0 filled his speech with last night. One cable company or Telco suing the FCC for assuming legislative powers WILL get the decision thrown out by almost every court* from the bottom all the way up to SCOTUS. There's a big glowing line between the legislature and the executive branch, and the executive branch is not a king or dictator.
*I expect a few lower courts in Cali that routinely substitute political prejudices for legal reasoning would uphold the FCC power grab.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
