ISPs want net neutrality case to remain in Cincinnati courtroom

Net neutrality

“Washington does not have a monopoly on the Internet or on administrative law,” the ISPs said.

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2024 – Internet service provider trade associations don’t want their net neutrality lawsuit to leave a Cincinnati courtroom.

“Washington does not have a monopoly on the Internet or on administrative law,” the ISPs said.

After the Federal Communications Commission adopted net neutrality rules in April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati was selected by lottery to hear the case.

The FCC, supported by the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, filed a motion to remand the case to the D.C. Circuit, citing the court’s deep experience in net neutrality litigation. But ISPs — in a motion filed Monday evening in the Sixth Circuit — said they didn’t want that to happen.

“It’s obvious why the FCC and Benton want to bypass the lottery process and move these cases to the DC Circuit: the last time the FCC classified broadband under Title II, it defended its order in the DC Circuit and won there,” the ISP said.

The FCC and Benton have until Friday to respond to ISPs.

The FCC rules imposed joint carrier obligations on broadband Internet service providers, prohibiting them from blocking or throttling legal content or accepting payments in order to prioritize content delivered to mass-market end users.

However, by placing ISPs in Title II of the Communications Act, the FCC stripped ISPs of their classification as lightly regulated entities under Title I of the same Act.

ISP groups – which include the Ohio Telecom Association, USTelecom and NCTA – have filed their own request to suspend the FCC’s rules pending judicial review. With the rules coming into effect on July 22, ISPs have said the porting request is not a priority. The ISPs asked the Sixth Circuit to rule on the stay request by July 15.

“In short, the movement of staying depends on time; transfer request is not,” the ISP groups said.

Under a previous order issued by the Sixth Circuit, the deadline to respond to ISPs’ stay request is today.