"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." Wernher von Braun Of course lawyers bill for research, phone calls, and emails. So do consultant

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." Wernher von Braun Of course lawyers bill for research, phone calls, and emails. So do consultants. Why would considering work emails during commuting counting as work be at all a controversial? What's the contrary argument?