Telecom Group Takes Net Neutrality Debate to Court

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The net neutrality debate moved from the FCC to the courts this week, following the filing of two separate lawsuits challenging the commission’s February ruling that internet access should be regulated as a public utility. Industry group USTelecom appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Alamo Broadband appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

USTelecom represents AT&T, Verizon and other companies. In his appeal, he argues that the regulations introduced by the FCC ruling are “arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion” and are also technically impermissible due to various contradictions with applicable laws, regulations and procedures, Reuters reports.

“As we have already said during this debate, our member companies conduct their business in accordance with the principles of the open Internet and support their implementation into law. However, we also support a regulatory approach that relies on the authority under Section 706 of the Communications Act and do not believe that the Federal Communications Commission’s shift toward utility-style regulation invoking Title II authority is legally sustainable.” said USTelecom CEO Walter McCormick.

The appeals were filed now to meet the appeal deadline should the FCC trigger the 10-day window of opportunity on the “date of issuance or issuance of the FCC order,” rather than the date of publication by the Federal Registrar.

Alamo Broadband’s lawsuit makes a similar argument to USTelecom, according to Reuters.

The FCC’s decision is this not necessarily the guarantee of net neutrality that all supporters were hoping for. But lawsuits from the industry have been expected and more are expected to follow if the net neutrality ruling lasts that long. The FCC’s governing industry analyst, Jeff Kagan, predicted a final decision would come it comes from the courts and is “long ago.”

The Columbia Circuit has twice rejected FCC net neutrality measures, including the Open Internet Order in early 2014. The FCC’s measures are also being challenged by the legislature, by the Internet Freedom Act.

This article originally appeared at http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/telecom-group-takes-net-neutrality-debate-court