A federal appeals court expressed deep concerns on the Internet access rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday. A hopeful sign for Internet providers who are eager to run away from regulations that force them to deliver all Web content equally.
Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit interrogated an FCC lawyer for a couple of hours about their agency’s legal basis for formulating its “net neutrality” regulations in 2010. The said regulation prohibits telecom and cable carriers from blocking any website even if the site content contends with their own business.
The regulations sturdily discourage the creation of “fast lanes” for websites ready to pay extra charges for VIP delivery of their content into their televisions. An example of the deal would be allowing Verizon Communications to charge an additional amount for faster delivery of its streaming videos in Netflix.
The case has drawn huge interest from telecommunication firms that have struggled against sturdy rules over their cable and telecom businesses.
Verizon filed a case against FCC right after the regulations were formulated and debated in court that FCC violated its authority by enforcing phone-era rules on the broadband Internet industry.
The verdict of the court could also decide for the future of the FCC as a regulator of the Internet economy. Some analysts claim that the law allowing FCC’s rule does not clearly identify its authority over broadband services even if the FCC claims that they have the authority to formulate and enforce “net neutrality” regulations.
If the verdict of the judges goes against FCC, the commission’s authority could be reduced.
Jennifer Yeh, a policy counsel at consumer advocacy group Free Press told the Washington Post, “The way it played out today underlines the fact that the court very much wants to be deferential to the FCC but is limited because of the way the FCC classifies broadband. The court can only defer so much.”
The net-neutrality regulations, which were formulated as internet service boomed in popularity, were sturdily supported by the Obama administration. Internet companies like Facebook, Yahoo, and Google also supported the FCC’s guidelines, saying consumers should have free access to all websites.
