Ahh, Memory Lane..."Obama's Bad Pick: A Former [Cable Industry] Lobbyist at the FCC"

[Maven]

6. "Senators Urge FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to ‘Move Quickly’ to Preserve ‘Open Internet'"

Five U.S. senators have sent a letter to FCC chairman Tom Wheeler in which they call on him to “act with expediency” to come up with a plan after the D.C. Circuit Court overturned the agency’s Net neutrality rules last month.

The Democratic senators — Ron Wyden of Oregon, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Al Franken of Minnesota — urged Wheeler to “quickly adopt enforceable rules to prevent the blocking and discrimination of Internet traffic.”

But Verizon challenged the rules, claiming that the agency didn’t have the authority to impose them. The D.C. Circuit did support the FCC’s ability to regulate Internet providers, but found fault with the way that it went about doing it. The judges ruled that the FCC was treating Internet providers as “common carriers,” akin to a landline phone company, without explicitly classifying them as such.

...

Wheeler has not said whether he will seek an appeal of the ruling or attempt to devise a set of new rules. He has hinted at taking a case-by-case approach, with speculation on Wall Street that the agency would come up with a set of industry standards that would essentially put Internet providers on notice for any anti-competitive behavior.

There were multiple actions Wheeler could have taken in response to the ruling. Reclassifying Internet providers was one. Appealing was another. Devising a new set of rules that didn't completely cave to industry demands was yet another. But the ruling provides a convenient cover for the end result doesn't it? Certainly for certain useful apologists for the administration.