Summary: The FCC has posted their new rules for net neutrality Monday, opening the window for US Telecom to sue to have those same rules blocked, which they immediately did.
Regarding net neutrality legislation, Monday has marked a significant date: not only did the Federal Communications Commission publish their net neutrality rules, which triggered an effective date of June 22 when they will go into place, but a telecommunications industry trade group has also filed suit to prevent the rules from becoming law.
“As Chairman [Tom] Wheeler has said, we are confident the FCC’s new open Internet rules will be upheld by the courts, ensuring enforceable protections for consumers and innovators online” said FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart Monday.
The 400-page order posted by the FCC marked the point when their 3-2 vote approved rules and regulations, as of Feb. 26, would be published with the Federal Register, and also when the rules could be legally challenged.
US Telecom, who are suing to stop the rules, are a trade group including AT&T and Verizon Communications. They filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Their president, Walter McCormick, claims they do not oppose the goal of a free flowing legal content online, without internet providers having the ability to boost speeds for higher bidders, or block other sites. Instead, he opposes the FCC’s changing of the legal classification of wired and wireless broadband as a highly regulated telecommunications service.
“Reclassifying broadband Internet access as a public utility reverses decades of established legal precedent at the FCC and upheld by the Supreme Court,” said McCormick. “History has shown that common carrier regulation slows innovation, chills investment, and leads to increased costs on consumers.”
The suit therefore calls the rules “arbitrary and capricious,” and in violation of federal law.
News Source: LA Times