Court strikes down net neutrality

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The Hill:

A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the Obama administration’s net-neutrality rules.

 

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its authority by prohibiting Internet providers from blocking or discriminating against traffic to lawful websites.

 

By classifying Internet access as an “information service” as opposed to a “telecommunications service,” which is the classification used for traditional telephone companies, the FCC cannot impose its “anti-discrimination” and “anti-blocking” rules on Internet providers, the court said.

“Given that the Commission has chosen to classify broadband providers in a manner that exempts them from treatment as common carriers, the Communications Act expressly prohibits the Commission from nonetheless regulating them as such,” the judges wrote.

The decision is blow to President Obama, who made net neutrality a campaign pledge in 2008, and erases one of the central accomplishments of former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who pushed the "Open Internet" order.