The most recent development in the battle over web neutrality has appeared in an unlikely place, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan of 2009, also known as "the stimulus package". Buried within the bill, on pages 399-402, are provisions for grants to build out internet and wireless service in "unserved" areas of the country. Tied into these provisions are requirements that any newly developed networks operate on an "open access" basis. Coincidentally, "open access" is not defined in the bill, and since the role of the courts is to interpret legislation, any FCC definition of "open access" will be subject to the scrutiny of the courts. Although net neutrality proponents were hoping for more, they should not be disappointed in this development. It may seem like a small step, but it is some of the first language in passed legislation directly referring to net neutrality.

The court [...] applied the test from Bilski: that a method or process has to be tied to a machine or transform an article to be patentable. The idea for a marketing company does neither, wrote Judge Arthur Gajarsa. "Although Applicants argue that the method claims are tied to the use of a shared marketing force, a marketing force is not a machine or apparatus,"