In a defeat for net neutrality advocates, a federal appellate court has refused to reconsider its earlier decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of the Obama-era open internet rules.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals didn't give a reason for its refusal to re-hear the matter, Mediapost is reporting.
The move leaves in place a ruling issued in October, when a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit largely rejected challenges to the FCC's decision to revoke regulations that prohibited broadband providers from blocking or throttling traffic, and from charging higher fees for prioritized delivery.
The decision stemmed from a challenge to the FCC's December 2017 vote to repeal open internet rules that were passed just two years earlier.
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| Ajit Pai |
Net neutrality proponents say the rules are necessary to prevent broadband providers from limiting consumers' ability to access streaming video, search engines and other online services and content.
A coalition of tech companies, consumer advocacy groups, state attorneys general and city officials urged the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the FCC's repeal and reinstate the 2015 rules.
Among other arguments, the attorneys general and city officials said the FCC didn't take into account that the repeal could harm public safety. They pointed to Verizon's decision to slow down service to firefighters battling blazes in California this summer.
Even though the October ruling largely rejected arguments made by net neutrality proponents, the appellate judges sent the matter back to the FCC with instructions to examine the implications of the repeal on public safety, the Lifeline program (which subsidizes broadband) and regulations regarding utility poles.
The October decision also vacated rules by the FCC that would have categorically blocked states from passing or enforcing their own broadband laws.
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