In its judgement, the court said the FCC "lacked the legal authority to categorically abolish all 50 states statutorily conferred authority to regulate intrastate communications" while acknowledging that the agency could still make “provision-specific arguments” to seek to block individual aspects of state net neutrality rules. It also found that the agency “failed to examine the implications of its decisions for public safety” and must also review how its decision will impact a government subsidy programme for low-income users.
However, FCC chairman Ajit Pai broadly welcomed the ruling, saying it affirmed the FCC’s “decision to repeal 1930s utility-style regulation of the internet,” adding that the agency would address “the narrow issues that the court identified.”
A Reuters report suggested the appeal court’s decision meant the long-running debate over net neutrality would continue to drag on for months or more likely years as ISPs could be subject to a variety of state regulations, while Congress has refused to pass legislation that would end the debate. The judgment “underscores the need for Congress to adopt national legislation that provides protections for consumers while avoiding a disruptive, inconsistent patchwork of state internet regulation,” said Verizon in a statement.
A senior FCC official cited in the report said the ruling is “not a green light” for states to pass any internet rules they want, adding that the FCC has not yet decided whether to appeal portions of the decision.
Although the court upheld the FCC’s repeal of the rules and threw out much of the complaint brought by Mozilla along with other companies, the Firefox browser maker said it would continue fighting its case. “We are encouraged to see the Court free states to enact net neutrality rules that protect consumers,” said Mozilla’s chief legal officer Amy Keating.
Consumer groups including Public Knowledge also applauded that provision of the appeal court’s ruling. “The Court’s decision leaves states with a clear path forward to enact state net neutrality laws to protect internet users and provide certainty for participants in the digital economy,” said Public Knowledge’s legal director John Bergmayer, adding that “states should move expeditiously to protect consumers where the FCC has refused to do so.”
Industry groups including Incompas and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) called on the US Congress to step in and bring certainty to the situation. “The DC Circuit’s decision is good news for the future of net neutrality. It will force action in Congress to support stronger national open internet protections that promotes deployment, competition and the streaming revolution,” said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, while CCIA President & CEO Ed Black said: “We are glad the court recognised deficiencies in the FCC’s effort to foreclose states from remedying the Commission’s abdication of responsibility,” before remarking that “this mixed ruling could mean some states that enforce net neutrality will be more business friendly than others.”
The Internet Innovation Alliance likewise called on Congress to enact legislation “that will remove the open internet issue from politics, and enshrine in that law the core principles of an open internet – no blocking of legitimate online content, no paid prioritisation, no throttling based on content or unfair discrimination against content.”
