So what’s the real story behind yesterday’s FCC decision to open a “notice of inquiry” on broadband market practices?

Strip away the usual government-ese and this is pretty obviously a shrewd move by the commission because it calls the bluff of those lobbying for broad new regulations.

Google, Amazon and other pro-regulation companies now face a choice: Cither come up with an actual example of online discrimination or admit that existing laws protecting consumers’ Internet experience are working.

The first option is about as likely as Paris Hilton becoming a rabbi. That leaves the regulation agitators with no alternative but to admit that their rationale for ‘neutrality’ is just a transparent effort to shift build-out costs onto ordinary Net users.

Watch for their upcoming filings to have more twists and contortions than an Upper East Side yoga class.