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In victory for Obama, court backs strict Internet regulation
| Los Angeles Times | - |
Federal
regulators can strictly oversee the Internet to ensure that content
flows freely to consumers, a court ruled Tuesday in a major victory for
President Obama and other supporters of the long-pursued concept of net
neutrality.
In victory for Obama, court backs strict Internet regulation
Jim Puzzanghera
In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed arguments by AT&T Inc., other telecom companies and industry trade groups that the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority in approving the regulations last year.
The decision removes major uncertainty about the FCC’s prohibitions on broadband providers from blocking, slowing or selling faster delivery of legal content passing through their networks to Americans’ computers and mobile devices.
And the ruling cleared the way for the FCC to pursue new initiatives based on its expanded authority over the Internet.
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But the legal fight isn’t over yet for an issue that began more than a decade ago as the Internet’s role in American culture, communications and commerce rapidly expanded.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat who pushed the regulations with Obama’s strong backing, said the court decision was “a victory for consumers and innovators who deserve unfettered access to the entire Web.”
Consumer advocates and Internet companies such as Netflix and Twitter also hailed the decision, saying it gave the FCC the ability to prevent broadband providers from acting as gatekeepers for online content.
“The court has ensured that paid prioritization, blocking, and discrimination of content has no place in a free and open Internet,” said Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Assn., a trade group whose members include Amazon, Google and Snapchat.
Opponents, however, said they weren't ready to give up the fight.
“We have always expected this issue to be decided by the Supreme Court, and we look forward to participating in that appeal,” AT&T General Counsel David McAtee said.
Republican lawmakers promised to try to overturn the FCC's actions with legislation, which could be successful if they make gains in November’s election and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wins the White House.
“Rather than providing Internet users and companies alike with the regulatory certainty they need to thrive, we instead now have a highly political agency micromanaging the Internet ecosystem,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said.
Fears began rising around 2006 that broadband providers such as AT&T, Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications would sell fast lanes for some data, or slow content such as video streams that competed with their own services.
The FCC twice established net neutrality rules but federal judges tossed them out after legal challenges by telecom companies.
So last year, the FCC took the controversial step of classifying high-speed Internet as a telecommunications service under Title 2 of the federal Communications Act.. The move subjected broadband to the same utility-like oversight as conventional phone services, giving the agency more enforcement authority.
The FCC’s Democratic majority approved the rules on a 3-2 vote last year after Obama took the unusual step of publicly urging the independent agency to adopt the strongest possible regulations.
Both Republican commissioners voted against the rules.
Wheeler promised a light-handed approach, and the rules exempted broadband providers from rate regulation and other more onerous provisions of Title 2 that apply to conventional phone service providers.
But telecom executives and congressional Republicans said the new regulations would hinder investment in expanding high-speed networks.
Opponents argued in court that the FCC overstepped its authority in reclassifying high-speed Internet service and also failed to follow proper procedures in considering the new regulations.
In a 115-page ruling, the court found that the FCC “has statutory authority to classify broadband as a telecommunications service.” But one of the judges, Stephen F. Williams, dissented in part of the decision, which could give net neutrality opponents an opening for a further appeal.
Williams agreed with his colleagues, judges David S. Tatel and Sri Srinivasan, that the FCC had the authority to enact the rules. But he argued the FCC was “arbitrary and capricious” in how it made its decision.
“The commission acts like a bicyclist who rides now on the sidewalk, now the street, as personal convenience dictates,” Williams wrote.
Times staff writer Paresh Dave contributed to this report.
jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com
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