California appeals court reopens US FTC case against AT&T

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A full California appeals court ruled on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission can proceed with a lawsuit alleging that AT&T Inc. misled consumers by slowing down Internet speeds for customers with unlimited plans. The FTC sued AT&T in 2014, citing that the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier failed to tell consumers that it would slow down or “throttle” speeds for heavy data users on unlimited plans. In some cases, data speeds were slowed by nearly 90 percent, the FTC said. AT&T argued that it was exempt from FTC regulation because it was a common carrier. The three-judge appellate court agreed, and the FTC appealed to the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The larger court ruled in favor of the agency and revived the lawsuit. The lawsuit was closely watched because critics warned that a previous ruling could leave internet service providers without a U.S. regulator. The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 in December to end net neutrality rules that were designed to ensure a free and open internet and to transfer oversight of internet service providers to the FTC. “Today’s jurisdictional decision does not address the merits of the case. We are reviewing the opinion and continue to believe that we will ultimately prevail,” AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said. Both FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the decision. Ohlhausen called it “good news for consumers.” “It ensures that the FTC can and will continue to play its critical role in protecting consumer interests, including privacy, and deterring anticompetitive conduct in the marketplace,” she said in a statement. (Reporting by Diane Bartz and David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Thomas and Leslie Adler)