Net neutrality was all the rage a couple years ago as the FCC battled against Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon to implement guidelines governing how Internet service is delivered. It hasn’t been making headlines for a while, but it’s back with a vengeance as Verizon gets its day in court to challenge the net neutrality framework. What’s really at stake, though, is the scope of the FCC’s authority over the Internet, and Verizon’s desire to control and profit from the content that crosses its network.

The FCC developed the Open Internet Framework to establish some guidelines for Internet providers. Supporters of the Open Internet Framework see it as essential to a healthy, open Internet that doesn’t deliver varying access to information depending on which provider you use or how much money you pay. For Verizon, and other opponents of net neutrality, it represents an unnecessary regulatory burden that creates uncertainty and stifles investment and innovation.

The business of ‘uncertainty’

Corporate America likes to run out the canard of “uncertainty” to justify bad, unethical, or immoral business decisions. If there is an unpopular choice to be made, the “uncertainty” card is supposed to somehow trump logic and judgment. Uncertainty is one of the tactics that have been used in the net neutrality battle, as Internet providers claim the FCC guidelines introduce uncertainty that will somehow hinder investment and innovation for the Internet.

Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group, argues that uncertainty isn’t always a sleight-of-hand distraction. “Actually uncertainty doesn’t rationalize corporate decisions it tries to explain corporate behavior,” he says. “Executives don’t like to take blind risks—the more they know about future conditions the more they are willing to risk capital. When they don’t feel comfortable about the future they tend to lock up the assets and hide the wife and kids.”

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