net neutrality

The first lawsuits have been filed to challenge the Federal Communications Commission's new rules prohibiting internet service providers from treating Internet traffic unequally, The New York Times' Rebecca R. Ruiz reports. The United States Telecom Association, as well as a small broadband provider in Texas, have filed the lawsuits against the rules that reclassify broadband Internet providers as common carriers and would prohibit ISPs from blocking, slowing down or speeding up users' access to content. The rules were just released 11 days ago.

Even though Internet providers are expected to challenge the new net neutrality rules in court, some companies may not go to court because they're seeking to get approval for their mergers, the Washington Post's Brian Fung reports. Comcast is trying to merge with Time Warner Cable, AT&T is trying to merge with DirecTV, and Verizon is trying to get approval for a deal with Frontier Communications.

With the Federal Communications Commission having voted 3-2 along party lines to reclassify broadband as a telecom service under Title II regulations, the new Internet rules will be tied up in court for years from lawsuits, Broadcasting & Cable's John Eggerton reports.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is confident that the new net neutrality rules will survive a court challenge even though prior rules did not, Ars Technica's Jon Brodkin reports. Wheeler said that "'the DC Circuit sent the previous Open Internet Order back to us and basically said, 'hey, you're trying to impose common carrier-like regulation without stepping up and saying, 'these are common carriers.' We have addressed that issue, that is the underlying issue, that is the sine qua non of the all the debates we've had so far. That gives me great confidence going forward."'

There are now bright-line rules against blocking and throttling Internet traffic as well as against having paid fast lanes for Internet traffic. 

In dissent, Eggerton reports that Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said that, while there are three bright-line rules, they are "'mere needles in a Title II haystack,"' and the FCC's case-by-case standard for reviewing behavior by internet service providers that fall outside those areas will "'be conducted through case-by-case adjudication, mostly at the Bureau level and in the courts.'"

Major telecom companies were "stunned" by President Obama's proposal to regulate the Internet like it's a utility, The Guardian's Dominic Rushe reports. Regulating the Internet as a utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act has been favored by net neutrality advocates when the Federal Communications Commission's prior strategy to ensure Internet service providers don't play favorites was struck down in court. National Cable and Telecommunications Association Michael Powell said, “'We are stunned the president would abandon the longstanding, bipartisan policy of lightly regulating the internet and [call] for extreme Title II regulation,'” The Guardian further reports.

The FCC is considering a hybrid Title II regime in which ISPs would be regulated as utilities but they could charge more money to some for fast-lane access, Electronista reports.

The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve new net neutrality rules, including favoring the creation of an internet fast lane, Gigaom's Stacey Higginbotham reports: "The FCC is proposing that it should use the authority that it has under Section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to regulate net neutrality, which unfortunately leaves the rules open to the possibility of paid prioritization."

The Wall Street Journal reports on the options that the FCC still has to ensure that Internet content is treated equally and neutrally after the D.C. Circuit ruled yesterday the governmental agency's net neutrality-rules overstepped its authority. One option would be to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers because "'the Communications Act doesn’t clearly address broadband providers, which means their regulatory status is a matter of reasonable agency discretion,'" The Journal reports.

The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, has struck down the FCC's rules imposing net neutrality, Gigaom reports. The majority said the FCC has the authority to regulate in the area of Internet traffic, but it can't impose requirements that "'contravene express statutory mandates,"' Gigaom reports.

"The upshot of Tuesday’s ruling is that it could open the door for internet giants like Verizon and Time Warner to cut deals with large content providers — say Disney or Netflix — to ensure that their web content was delivered faster and more reliably than other sites," Gigaom further reports.