FCC’s net neutrality rules struck down by Sixth Circuit (3)

Net neutrality rules, which prohibit broadband providers from messing with Internet speeds depending on the site, were struck down Thursday by the Sixth Circuit.

Federal law shows that broadband must be classified as an “information service” and not the more strictly regulated “telecommunications service,” as the Federal Communications Commission said it was when it adopted the rules in April 2024, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Supreme Court. of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled. The FCC lacked authority to impose its rules on broadband providers, the court said.

“It is one way or another that a telephone user obtains information from a third party in a telephone conversation with a friend or customer service agent,” Judge Richard Allen Griffin wrote for himself and Judges Raymond M. Kethledge and John K. Bush. “But that’s not the point of the law.”

The ruling is one of the highest-profile examples yet of an appeals court relying on the newfound authority enjoyed by federal judges in the wake of Loper Bright enters. w. Raimondowhich cast a doctrine that strengthened agency interpretations of unclear laws.

“We recognize that the functioning of the Internet is complicated and dynamic, and that the FCC has considerable expertise in overseeing ‘this technical and complex area,'” Griffin wrote. “Yet after-Loper Brightthat ‘ability,’ if you will, cannot be used to override the plain meaning of the statute.”

The judges also shot down a similar FCC classification affecting mobile broadband providers.

FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement after the ruling that “consumers across the country have told us time and time again that they want an Internet that is fast, open and fair.” She went on to say that Congress must address net neutrality “and put open internet principles into federal law.”

Commissioner Brendan Carr, the top Republican on the FCC whom President-elect Donald Trump chose to be its new chairman, called the ruling “a good win for the country” and said President Joe Biden’s administration “chose to waste time and resources to impose these unnecessary command and control provisions.”

Loss for the Democrats

The ruling is a blow to Democrats, who passed the rules at the FCC along party lines. The Cincinnati-based appeals court blocked them before they took effect.

The FCC had effectively reversed a decision from Trump’s first term to classify broadband as the more lightly regulated “information service.” The rules, which essentially went back to those the agency put in place under the Obama administration, prevented Internet providers such as Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. in blocking or slowing traffic from competitors. They also prohibited telecommunications companies from giving preferential treatment through “fast lanes” to preferred customers.

Net neutrality advocates have argued that the rules are necessary to prevent unnecessary and potentially harmful speed regulation. Providers and many Republicans oppose the rules, saying the broadband market works well and that the new rules invite government interference in a system where throttling has not been a problem.

Many predicted that last October’s oral arguments would focus heavily on the grand question doctrine, which says that a statute may not be interpreted to give an agency the power to decide grand questions unless it specifically says so. Griffin wrote, however, that its ruling on how the rules conflict with federal law meant it did not have to address that issue.

Broadband trade groups that challenged the FCC’s rules said in a statement that the Sixth Circuit delivered “a victory for American consumers that will lead to more investment, innovation and competition in the dynamic digital marketplace.”

The petitioners are represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Wiley Rein LLP, Lerman Senter PLLC, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP and MoloLamken LLP. The FCC is represented internally. The United States is represented by the Department of Justice.

The thing is MCP No. 185 Open Internet Rule (FCC 24-52)6th Cir., No. 24-7000, 1/2/25.