You know the story?

You know those stories about Japanese soldiers on remote islands who kept fighting World War II?

That really was a thing.

After decades of waging guerrilla warfare on Lubang Island in the Philippines, for instance,

a man named Hero Onoda surrendered only in March 1974.

He apparently killed like 30 Philippine civilians over that stretch, by the way.

So technically he was a mass murderer.

Still, he received a hero's welcome when he finally returned to Japan. But I digress. Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast.

I'm Corbyn Barthold. The better part of a decade ago, the fight over broadband status under the Communications Act of 1934

was the subject of raging, furious national debate. It garnered immense media attention.

People protested in the streets. Proceedings at the Federal Communications Commission were interrupted by a bomb threat.

Those days are gone.

Here in 2024, some of us are still arguing about whether broadband is a so-called Title I service

subject to light-touch regulation, or instead a so-called Title II service subject to light touch regulation, or instead a so-called title two service

subject to heavy common carrier regulation. But the public, the media, and the political class have

largely moved on to other things. Sometimes we broadband buff seem as forgotten as Lieutenant Onoda.

That's a pity because, while I don't think anyone needs to be taking to the streets over telecom law, the subject remains important.

So stick with us and get yourself filled in on what is going to be a momentous year for internet regulation.

As a matter of table setting, what you need to know is this.

A few weeks ago, the FCC adopted a new open internet order that returns broadband to Title II and invasive common carrier rules.

A few months before that, and this is a big twist within the longstanding debate over

broadband regulation, the agency in response to a provision in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment

...