[9][10] In Verizon Communications Inc. v. FCC in 2014, the circuit court ruled that the FCC could not compel ISPs to refrain from discrimination because such a regulation could only be enforced against entities that the commission had classified as "telecommunications services" under the provisions of the 1934 Communications Act, while the commission had already classified cable broadband Internet, and later wireless Internet, as an "information service" per this process as far back as 2002.

[11] In 2014, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler responded to that decision by stating that the commission would not appeal the Verizon ruling, but would instead take the court's advice on reclassification of Internet service providers in the interests of non-discriminatory content delivery.

The commission's previous classification of cable modem Internet service had been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court as within its regulatory authority in National Cable & Telecommunications Ass'n v. Brand X Internet Services (2005); that ruling was in turn supported by Chevron deference in which courts refer to an agency's subject matter expertise.

[15] In the present case, the court found that the FCC had provided adequate explanation and legal justification for its 2015 decision to reclassify broadband Internet as a "telecommunications service", and that the petitioners (USTA) failed to deliver compelling arguments on how this was beyond the commission's authority.

[16] The new non-discrimination rules were set to go into effect later in 2016,[17] but were put on hold while the ISP industry attempted an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[20] However, by that time an appeal was moot because in 2017 the FCC, now under the leadership of Ajit Pai during the Donald Trump administration, had already voted to overturn its 2015 reclassification and return to the previous state of affairs regarding regulation of ISPs.

[21] That regulatory decision was framed as "Restoring Internet Freedom"[3] and itself attracted widespread controversy as an illustration of the FCC's inconsistent stance on network neutrality based on its shifting leadership and political outlook.