An appellate court on Tuesday threw a wrench into the Federal Communications Commission's hopes to expand broadband and bar internet service providers from favoring their own content at the expense of others — a concept known as “net neutrality. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC, which can regulate broadcast TV and telephone landlines, doesn’t have the authority to regulate the internet.
The ruling represents a victory for Comcast, whose case brought the issue to the fore. The FCC had sanctioned the cable provider for limiting its customers’ ability to download big BitTorrent video files — usually TV shows and movies.
Here's what the pundits are saying across the web about the decision:
“Tuesday's decision could doom one of the signature initiatives of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat. Last October, Genachowski announced plans to begin drafting a formal set of Net neutrality rules–even though Congress has not given the agency permission to do so. That push is opposed by Verizon and other broadband providers."
Declan McCullagh
CNET.com blog on politics and law
“The government agency that is charged with overseeing the nation's communications infrastructure now has no authority to regulate broadband — the 21st century's primary communications platform? While this would seem like a joke, sadly it is not. It is the result of failed Bush-era (de)regulatory policies that are once again failing to protect the public.”
Josh Silver
Executive director of nonpartisan media-watcher Free Press
In a blog post on the Huffington Post
“This validation of the rule of law over bureaucratic diktat is worth cheering. The question now is whether the Obama Administration will accept the decision or evade it by finding other ways to impose "net neutrality" rules on Comcast, AT&T and others.”
Wall Street Journal editorial
“Internet freedom is an idea most people would call important but it is equally important that we do not begin to think of Internet access as an entitlement. A ruling by a federal appeals court is a step, at least temporarily, in the right direction toward keeping the Internet free from government control and overregulation.”
Orange County Register editorial
A federal appeals court just ruled on Comcast's lawsuit to get the FCC's p2p blocking ban overturned — that the FCC doesn't have the power to tell Comcast, or any ISP, to be net neutral. Whoa … The doomsday scenario without net neutrality is pretty ugly.
Matt Buchanan
Gizmodo.com
“I’m no lawyer, but having lost decisively at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals seems to set a dangerous precedent for the FCC’s future ability to regulate ISPs.”
Neil Stevens
Redstate.com
“A big win for Comcast and a big loss for the FCC in the "net neutrality" arena — the idea that ISPs must not interfere with customers' internet traffic.”
Dan Frommer
Businessinsider.com
