Appeals court: FCC can't require net neutrality

A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against the Federal Communications Commission in its attempt to require network neutrality. The policy would require "broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks," The Associated Press notes. The court ruled that the FCC lacks authority to require companies to adhere to such policies, and the ruling could have major implications for the commission's national broadband plan, which requires recipients of federal funds to adopt net neutrality.

"The agency needs clear authority to regulate broadband in order to push ahead with some of its key recommendations, including a proposal to expand broadband by tapping the federal fund that subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural communities," AP reports. The case centered on Comcast's challenge of a 2008 FCC ruling that prohibited the company from blocking service to broadband subscribers who used an online file-sharing technology known as BitTorrent, requiring large amounts of bandwidth. (Read more)

The ruling stems from an FCC decision in 2002, during the Bush administration, to reclassify broadband as an information service rather than a telecommunications service. "Marvin Ammori, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of Free Press, says that the commission can change broadband's classification as long as it has a 'reasoned basis' for doing so," reports Wendy Davis of Online Media Daily. "But any attempt by the FCC to treat broadband as a telecommunications service will almost certainly be met with opposition and court challenges by Internet service providers." (Read more)