As CNET reported, net neutrality suffered a stinging blow at the hands of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday. The court issued a mixed ruling on the Federal Communications Commission repeal of Obama-era net neutrality rules. The court upheld the FCC's repeal of the rules but struck down a key provision that blocked states from passing their own net neutrality protections.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals also remanded another piece of the order back to the FCC and told the agency to take into consideration other issues, like the effect that the repeal of protections will have on public safety. The decision in Mozilla v. Federal Communications Commission is by no means the end of the story.
The case pitted Mozilla and several other internet companies, such as Etsy and Reddit, as well as 22 state attorneys general, against the Republican-led FCC. They argued that the FCC hadn't provided sufficient reason for repealing the rules.
While the court agreed that broadband companies have an incentive to block competitors and favor their own services, it agreed with the Republican-led FCC that the agency had the discretion to decide how those harms should be mitigated. In its repeal, the FCC suggested the Federal Trade Commission and existing antitrust law could deter misbehaving ISPs.
The states are now free to do what the FCC will not.
Several states including, California and Washington, are considering or have passed legislation. The Trump Justice Department has challenged the California law in federal court, but the lawsuit has been on hold, pending the outcome of this federal case.
Once Democrats regained control of the US House of Representatives, they ..
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