In fact I see reclassification as a way to free broadband providers not just from regulatory burdens, but also as a means to provide regulatory certainty. The ISP operators I talk and work with have stated many times that a particular regulation is not that big a deal. What drives them crazy and threatens their existence has been the constantly shifting nature of the regulation over the past 15 or so years. I mean for pete’s sake, the Telecom Act of ’96 has been to the Supremes 3 times already. It’s a heckuva way to regulate an industry of such fundamental importance to us all (to paraphrase Justice Scalia).

I hope this process affords some certainty and of a reasonably long duration to afford certainty to an industry badly in need of it.

Will real life Internet service providers — those of us actually out in the field doing the hard practical work of hooking people up — be represented in your session? Or will you include only those who agree with your hyper-regulatory approach?

I challenge you to include some real life ISPs on the panel. Not lobbyists from big telephone companies who have never touched a Cat5 cable, but real ISPs like myself. You might then get a real world perspective on these issues.