The U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has rejected the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) open Internet rules. The open Internet rules, also known as net neutrality, were passed in 2010 and are now being challenged by Verizon Communications Inc.
According to the FCC rules, Internet service providers should give their consumers fair access to all lawful content without imposing restrictions or changing their charges. However, due to the recent decision of the court, Internet providers may now be allowed to charge content providers a higher fee for faster access to Internet services.
Verizon considers the decision as a victory as they considered the FCC ruling as an overreach to how they operate their company. Although the company promised not to pose Internet restrictions for their subscribers, the consumers are worried for network owners may start charging a separate fee for content providers such as Facebook, Netflix, and sports broadcasting sites such as ESPN.
Supporters of the FCC rules are also worrying about the same thing. "That's just not the way the Internet has worked until now,"policy director at public interest group Free Press,Matt Wood, said to Reuters.
This was the second time that FCC rules were rejected by the court. According to FCC rules, broadband providers are information service providers rather than telecommunications service providers. This distinction created a legal challenge for the FCC's authority to regulate Internet service providers.
The FCC could file an appeal or they could reclassify broadband providers to establish the commission's authority over them.
"Unless Congress acts, we should stay our hand and refrain from any further attempt to micromanage how broadband providers run their networks," FCC Commissioner AjitPaj told Reuters.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has also suggested using the existing power of the commission to hunt down certain Internet service providers who violate the rules of open Internet principles and deal with them on a case-to-case basis.
