The Federal Communications Commission has finally gotten around to denying a net neutrality complaint filed against Verizon in July 2016, two years before the commission eliminated its net neutrality rules.

The complaint by Verizon Wireless customer Alex Nguyen was the only formal net neutrality complaint the FCC received during the three years its rules were in place. Nguyen alleged that Verizon took numerous actions that blocked third-party devices and applications from being used on its network. His complaint said that Verizon's actions violated both the net neutrality rules and the open access rules applied to C Block spectrum licenses owned by Verizon.

While the FCC received tens of thousands of informal net neutrality complaints, which could be filed for free, Nguyen had to pay a $225 filing fee for his formal complaint and go through a court-like proceeding in which the parties appear before the FCC and file numerous documents to address legal issues.

Despite that, Chairman Ajit Pai's FCC forgot that Nguyen had filed his complaint at all. When Pai released a draft proposal in April 2017 to eliminate the Obama-era Title II net neutrality rules, his proposal falsely stated that "no formal complaints have been filed under [the rules]." Pai's FCC corrected the mistake in a later version of the anti-net neutrality plan, saying that "only one formal complaint has been filed under [the rules] to date."

The FCC moved ahead with a repeal vote in December 2017 and officially took the rules off the books in June 2018, still without having acted on Nguyen's complaint.

Nguyen didn’t prove case, FCC says

The FCC's inaction ended yesterday, when the agency's Enforcement Bureau released an order rejecting Nguyen's complaint.

"[W]e deny Nguyen's Complaint for failure to satisfy its burden of proving by competent evidence that Verizon violated the Act or the Commission's rules or orders," the FCC said. "Rather than support its claims with sworn affidavits from witnesses with personal knowledge of the facts, the Nguyen Complaint rests almost entirely on unverified news reports and blog posts."

Here is a sampling of Nguyen's allegations, which we also included in our August 2017 story about the complaint:

Verizon blocked Asus Nexus 7 Tablets for 22 Weeks

Verizon blocked third-party Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices for 47 weeks

Verizon blocked third-party Motorola Nexus 6 Smartphones for 29 weeks

Verizon imposes discriminatory pricing on bringing your own device

Verizon disables (or compels edge providers to disable) FM radio capabilities

Verizon disables (or compels Apple to disable) embedded Apple SIMs

Verizon disables built-in tethering features and charges an additional $20.00/month to re-enable them

Verizon compelled customers to use FamilyBase and blocked Samsung from enabling blocking mode

Verizon compelled Samsung to preload Isis Wallet and blocked pay with PayPal

Verizon compelled Samsung to preload Verizon Cloud and blocked Samsung from preloading Microsoft OneDrive

Verizon compelled Samsung to preload Android Pay and blocked Samsung Pay

To compel customers to use Isis Wallet, a Verizon-backed mobile payment application, the carrier blocked Google Wallet, a competing application

Verizon compelled Samsung to preload caller name ID and blocked Samsung from integrating Whitepages

Verizon misleads and deceives customers by stating third-party devices that are compatible with its network are not

Verizon offers vague and specious allegations (instead of specific explanations) for denying network access

The now-repealed net neutrality rules prohibited ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful websites, online services, or the use of non-harmful devices that can be attached to the network. The C Block rules that still apply to Verizon's 700MHz spectrum generally prohibit Verizon from imposing restrictions on the use of devices and applications.

Verizon’s denial

Verizon denied all of Nguyen's allegations in FCC filings, saying among other things that it worked to connect third-party devices to its network but that there were delays due to circumstances the carrier couldn't control. With some of Nguyen's allegations, Verizon said the company practices he complained about did not violate FCC rules. For example, Verizon said that "there is no prohibition on carriers charging customers for tethering services."

For the purposes of reviewing Nguyen's complaint, the FCC said it assumed that the net neutrality rules "apply to the period at issue in the Complaint." But Nguyen didn't prove that Verizon violated the net neutrality order or any other rules, the FCC said.

The FCC denial of Nguyen's complaint faulted him for complaining about problems that he did not experience himself. While Nguyen pointed to 22 devices that Verizon allegedly did not allow on its network promptly, Nguyen "did not attach an affidavit or other verified evidence describing efforts by Nguyen or anyone else to use any of these devices on Verizon's network," the FCC said.

The FCC further said:

Nguyen also alleges that Verizon unlawfully failed to "preload" certain applications, and/or disabled certain applications or capabilities, on the devices Verizon sells. The Complaint does not allege that Nguyen used or sought to use any of these applications on Verizon's network nor does it provide an affidavit or other verified evidence describing any customer's efforts to use any of these applications on Verizon's network. The Complaint further alleges that Verizon unlawfully disabled (or compelled manufacturers to disable) certain functionalities on devices sold by Verizon—namely, FM radio chips and embedded (built-in) SIM cards in Apple iPad devices—but provides no affidavit or other verified evidence from anyone with first-hand knowledge of this alleged conduct.

Complainants such as Nguyen have the burden "to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged conduct occurred and that it violated the Act or a Commission rule or order," the FCC said. Nguyen's allegations were "supported almost entirely by unverified information from Internet blogs, webpages, and news reports," and many of these blog posts had anonymous authors and "acknowledge[d] that the author is speculating or expressing opinion," the FCC said.

When contacted by Ars, Nguyen said the FCC's denial is "not a surprise," but he disputed the FCC's reasoning. "Among other things, it falsely claims I didn't provide firsthand knowledge, even though I clearly did in my filings, exhibits, and replies to interrogatories," Nguyen told Ars.

Nguyen added:

For example, with respect to the fact that Verizon charged $15/month if you financed a Nexus 6 through Verizon but $40/month if you didn't go through Verizon, the order claims that no "verified evidence" supports my complaint, that I offered no "reliable, first-hand evidence," and that my assertions are based on "selected news articles and web postings," even though Verizon didn't deny this fact and I provided multiple bills from Verizon... Apparently, the current Enforcement Bureau chief doesn't consider my bills from Verizon verified, reliable, or first-hand evidence.

FCC is done with net neutrality, for now

Because of the net neutrality repeal, the FCC no longer enforces prohibitions against blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Pai's net neutrality repeal also eliminated requirements that ISPs be more transparent with customers about hidden fees and the consequences of exceeding data caps.

Pai, who was a Verizon lawyer from 2001 to 2003, clearly never wanted to enforce the net neutrality rules. When he took over from Chairman Tom Wheeler in early 2017, Pai quickly rescinded the Wheeler FCC's finding that AT&T and Verizon violated net neutrality rules by charging online services for data cap exemptions.

Although the FCC has now dismissed the only formal net neutrality complaint, Pai's fight against net neutrality isn't completely over. A coalition of state attorneys general, consumer advocacy groups, and tech companies sued the FCC to reverse the repeal, and the sides are waiting for judges to issue a ruling.