No surprise, the courts agree with Bert on Net neutrality...
Now onto the Supreme Court...
Regards
Craig
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/technology/net-neutrality-fcc-appeals-court-ruling.html?ref=technology
Court Backs Rules Treating Internet as Utility, Not Luxury
By NATALIA V. OSIPOVA and CAITLIN PRENTKE on March 12, 2015.
WASHINGTON — High-speed internet service can be defined as a utility, a federal
court has ruled, in a sweeping decision clearing the way for more rigorous
policing of broadband providers and greater protections for web users.
The two-to-one decision from a three-judge panel at the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Tuesday came in a case about
rules applying to a doctrine known as net neutrality, which prohibit broadband
companies from blocking or slowing the delivery of internet content to
consumers.
Those rules, created by the Federal Communications Commission in early 2015,
started a huge legal battle as cable, telecom and wireless internet providers
sued to overturn regulations that they said went far beyond the F.C.C.’s
authority and would hurt their businesses.
The court’s decision upheld the F.C.C. on the historic declaration of broadband
as a utility, the most significant aspect of the rules. That has broad-reaching
implications for web and telecommunications companies and signals a shift in
the government’s view of broadband as a service that should be equally
accessible to all Americans, rather than a luxury that does not need close
government supervision.
“After a decade of debate and legal battles, today’s ruling affirms the
commission’s ability to enforce the strongest possible internet protections —
both on fixed and mobile networks — that will ensure the internet remains open,
now and in the future,” said Tom Wheeler, chairman of the F.C.C., in a
statement.
The 184-page ruling opens a path for new limits on broadband providers.
Already, the F.C.C. has proposed privacy rules for broadband providers,
limiting the ability of companies like Verizon and AT&T to collect and share
data about broadband subscribers.
Google and Netflix support net neutrality rules and have warned government
officials that without regulatory limits, broadband providers would have an
incentive to create business models that could harm consumers. They argue that
broadband providers could degrade the quality of downloads and streams of
online services to extract tolls from web companies or to promote unfairly
their own competing services or the content of partners.
The court’s ruling was a slam-dunk for the F.C.C. The panel of three judges who
heard the case late last year agreed that wireless broadband services were also
common carrier utility services subject to anti-blocking and discrimination
rules, a decision protested by wireless carriers including AT&T and Verizon
Wireless.
“This is an enormous win for consumers,” said Gene Kimmelman, president of the
public interest group Public Knowledge. “It ensures the right to an open
internet with no gatekeepers.”
The legal battle from the broadband industry is far from over. The cable and
telecom industries have signaled their intent to challenge any unfavorable
decision, possibly taking the case to the Supreme Court.
AT&T immediately said it would continue to fight.
“We have always expected this issue to be decided by the Supreme Court, and we
look forward to participating in that appeal,” said David McAtee II, the senior
executive vice president and general counsel for AT&T.
In a statement, the cable industry’s biggest lobbying group highlighted the
comments of the dissenting judge, Stephen Williams, and said its members were
reviewing the opinion. The group also said broadband legislation by Congress
was a better alternative to the F.C.C.’s classification of internet business as
a utility.
“While this is unlikely the last step in this decade-long debate over internet
regulation, we urge bipartisan leaders in Congress to renew their efforts to
craft meaningful legislation that can end ongoing uncertainty, promote network
investment and protect consumers,” Michael Powell, president of the National
Cable & Telecommunications Association, said in a statement.
Regards
Craig
