Twenty-two states in the US have filed an appeal against the Federal Communications Commission’s recent reform of net neutrality rules. The coalition of state attorneys general filed a petition for review in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, saying the FCC's decision to roll back the rules passed under the previous administration was "illegal".
"The repeal of net neutrality would turn internet service providers into gatekeepers – allowing them to put profits over consumers while controlling what we see, what we do, and what we say online," said New York's Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman. The lawsuit is led by Schneiderman and also includes the AGs of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
They claim that, under the Administrative Procedure Act, the FCC cannot make "arbitrary and capricious" changes to existing policies, such as net neutrality. The FCC’s new rule fails to justify the Commission’s departure from its long-standing policy and practice of defending net neutrality, while misinterpreting and disregarding critical record evidence on industry practices and harm to consumers and businesses, the AGs said in a joint statement.
They also contest the FCC's reclassification of broadband internet as a Title I information service, rather than a Title II telecommunications service, calling this "an erroneous and unreasonable interpretation of the Telecommunications Act". Finally, the rule "improperly and unlawfully includes sweeping preemption of state and local laws".
Other groups, such as the company Mozilla and NGO Public Knowledge, have also filed suits against the FCC in the DC court. While the full version of the FCC's order has not yet been published in the Federal Register, the groups said they were filing early to ensure their cases are recognised by the appropriate court.
