What was the FCC’s ‘Open Internet Order’? The FCC’s 2010 order was intended to prevent broadband Internet service providers from blocking or interfering with traffic on the Web. The Open Internet Order was generally designed to ensure the Internet remained a level playing field for all — thats the principle we call Net Neutrality (we say “generally,” since the FCC’s rules prohibited wired ISPs from blocking and discriminating against content, while allowing wireless ISPs to discriminate against but not block websites). In its January 2014 ruling, the court said that the FCC used a questionable legal framework to craft the Open Internet Order and now lacks the authority to implement and enforce those rules. Did the court rule against Net Neutrality? No. The court ruled against the FCC’s ability to enforce Net Neutrality. The court specifically stated that its “task as a reviewing court is not to assess the wisdom of the Open Internet Order regulations, but rather to determine whether the Commission has demonstrated that the regulations fall within the scope of its statutory grant of authority.” (Read the court’s full decision here.) When the FCC made its open Internet rule, it relied on two decisions made by the Bush-era FCC, rulings that weakened the FCC’s authority over broadband Internet access network providers. There is nothing in the January court decision that prohibits the FCC from reversing those misguided decisions and reclassifying ISPs as common carriers. In fact, both this decision and a prior Supreme Court decision clearly establish that the FCC must reclassify broadband if it wishes to prohibit practices like blocking websites or discriminating against apps. We can still have Net Neutrality in America — indeed we need it — but the FCC needs to reestablish its legal authority to pass strong rules.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 20:09:30 +0000
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