According to National Journal, the usual suspects are up in arms about the FCC’s notice of inquiry. Why? Because

the agency’s involvement is a “notice of inquiry” and not a rulemaking. The difference is substantial: Inquiries gather data, while rulemakings consider policy changes.

But why is this a mistake? Everybody agrees that there are no actual problems with net neutrality, and as our own Chris Wolf explained last week, it doesn’t make sense to fashion legislative remedies to situations that don’t actually need remedying. If anything, it just shows that the supporters of net neutrality laws are looking for any avenue possible to impose restrictions on ISPs that would benefit the big online content companies. Whether through the Senate, through the FCC, through the state legislatures, it doesn’t really matter. Any opportunity to regulate the Internet is one they want to pursue.

There is no consensus that we need new rules to govern the Internet, and net neutrality fans should be encouraged that the FCC is looking into it at all, despite their stated skepticism. One imagines that if the FCC ultimately decides that still, no new rules are necessary, the same usual suspects will cry foul then, as they are doing now. That’s one reason it’s so hard to take them seriously.