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[OriginofHysteria]

Really interesting read:

The complaint kicked off a back-and-forth process of objections, evidence discovery, and failed mediation to reach a resolution. Along the way, there have been some hilariously petty digressions, which Nguyen, untrained in the law, has handled patiently. At one point, Verizon objected to his definition of “Verizon” and proposed its own definition. Nguyen then objected to Verizon’s objection, saying that Verizon “copied my definition almost verbatim,” which, in fact, it had.

Now one year after Nguyen's initial filing date, all the arguing is over, and the case is the in hands of the commission's Enforcement Bureau to either shoot down, deliver a fine, or demand Verizon make some changes.

"Verizon and I made our cases," Nguyen said. "It looks as though [the FCC's Enforcement Bureau] staff any day now could make a decision."

Nguyen's complaints are comprehensive and wide-ranging. He points to Verizon temporarily blocking the Nexus 7, third-party iPhone 6s, and third-party Nexus 6s. He brings up Verizon charging people more for bringing their own phones to the network. He argues Verizon compelled phone providers to disable FM radios. He also mentions Verizon blocking PayPal, OneDrive, Samsung Pay, and other built-in apps.

"With Verizon it’s always, ‘We’re blocking these features as a fraud prevention tactic,’ or ‘It didn’t pass our certification requirement that we’re not gonna talk about,’ or ‘It didn’t pass these requirements that were never specified,’" he said. "There’s always this pattern of deception with Verizon.”

Nguyen says his filing, even if it’s the only one, is proof that open internet rules and a complaint process are much needed. "I think the record I've shown in the complaint indicates that yes, [carriers will do bad things]," he said.

Nguyen's filing was started long before the election and the seemingly imminent repeal of net neutrality, but it's come to feel like a last-ditch effort to get something out of the policy before it's gone — to finally see an internet provider answer for its apparent misdeeds. But the longer the commission goes without ruling on Nguyen's complaint, the bigger the risk that net neutrality will be over before it happens.

If that happens, Nguyen has a plan to keep his fight alive. It relies on something called the C Block rules. Verizon is bound to a secondary set of openness rules that it had to accept in order to license a certain slice of wireless spectrum. Because of that, Verizon could still be on the hook for a lot of his complaints, even if the net neutrality order goes down.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/9/16114530/net-neutrality-crusade-against-verizon-alex-nguyen-fcc