Court Issues Yet Another Blow to Net Neutrality

A court has blocked the FCC's attempts to reinstate net neutrality rules. It's a decision about procedure rather than policy but likely means national rules are off the table for years to come.

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) should treat all lawful Internet traffic equally. At its most basic principle, that could mean an ISP doesn't block its customers from visiting a particular website.

The idea has evolved as technology has developed. For example, Internet carriers slowing down connections when people are using torrent sites, or excluding particular steaming services from mobile data caps have both been described as breaching net neutrality.

While there is no federal law requiring net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission has regulations to enforce the principle. The FCC's position has gone back and forth, strongly connected to changes its political makeup.

Regulatory Issue

Most of the debate has not been about the rules themselves, but about whether the FCC has the authority to make the rules. It comes down a technical position of whether broadband is an "information service" or a "communication service". The laws on telecommunications mean it has much more regulatory power with the latter.

The FCC recently decided to return to the latter classification and reinstate the rules. However, an appeals court has now blocked that, ruling that the FCC does not have the power to change the classification. It cited a much broader Supreme Court ruling last summer that means government agencies have less scope in the way the interpret the wording of laws. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

Issue Goes Back to Lawmakers

There's no prospect of the FCC challenging the decision as its about to undergo a change of leadership, with the incoming chair Brendan Carr against net neutrality rules.

The outgoing chair wants US Congress to pass a law that explicitly requires net neutrality rather than leaving it down to FCC decision-making. There's no prospect of that happening any time soon. (Source: theguardian.com)

The decision doesn't affect state laws and rules on net neutrality. For example, California has specific bans on intentionally slowing or "throttling" traffic or excluding specific sites and services from a data cap.

What's Your Opinion?

Do you agree with net neutrality in principle? If so, should it be enforced by the FCC or through specific laws? Is this an issue for federal rules or is it better left to individual states?