The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit won’t reconsider its 2016 ruling upholding the government’s net neutrality rules, handing a short-lived victory to consumer groups and net neutrality activists.
The D.C. Circuit’s decision could set the stage for an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The full court announced late Monday that it would not revisit the 2016 ruling of a three-judge panel upholding the regulations. Judges Janice Rogers Brown and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the decision not to rehear the case.
“En banc review would be particularly unwarranted at this point in light of the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the FCC’s Order,” Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote in an opinion explaining the court’s decision. “The agency will soon consider adopting a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would replace the existing rule with a markedly different one.”
Srinivasan was referencing the remarks of the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai previously indicated the agency would seek to undo the Obama-era rules, which reclassified internet service providers (ISPs) as “public utilities.” The move subjected ISPs to a wide-range of rigorous regulations. Pai has proposed classifying ISPs as an “information service.”
Though the decision is a temporary victory for “open internet” activists, Pai said in a statement that the opinion reinforces the fact that the FCC has the power to reclassify ISPs through the rule-making process.
“Their opinion is important going forward, however, because it makes clear that the FCC has the authority to classify broadband Internet access service as an information service, as I have proposed to do,” he said.
Though the net neutrality rules may be abolished through a regulatory rule-making process, the ISPs fighting the regulations may now appeal the decision to the Supreme Court where they might find a sympathetic, conservative majority. Thus far, the group of telecommunications companies fighting the regulations have been coy and have not revealed how they will proceed.
Should they choose to appeal to the high court, arguments are likely to come during the next term, which begins in October.
Send tips to kevin@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.