FCC Boss Promises Agency Will Win Net Neutrality Court Fight Speaking at Ohio State University today, FCC boss Tom Wheeler took direct aim at the nation's biggest ISPs, promising the FCC would be victorious in the legal fight over net neutrality. Wheeler's speech again tried to shoot down some well-worn narratives being circulated by the broadband industry, namely that the new rules will stifle sector innovation and investment. But Wheeler also made it clear the agency has no intention of backing down from what's expected to be a heated battle over what he called ISPs' quest for "unfettered power."

"The FCC’s new rules will be upheld by the courts," Wheeler said. "The DC Circuit sent the previous Open Internet Order back to us and basically said, 'You're trying to impose common carrier-like regulation without stepping up and saying, 'these are common carriers.'" "We have addressed that issue, which is the underlying issue in all of the debates we've had so far," Wheeler insisted. "That gives me great confidence going forward that we will prevail. When that happens, the big winners will be America’s consumers." Maybe, maybe not. While some rules are better than none, as we've been discussing there's a lot of wiggle room in the rules that net neutrality supporters aren't entirely comfortable with. For example the rules so far appear to allow for "zero rated" apps, a practice explicitly outlawed via net neutrality rules in Canada, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Chile. Some ambiguous language regarding things like "specialized services" is also creating concern among some legal experts. Last week USTelecom, a trade group representing industry giants AT&T and Verizon, filed early suit against the agency's decision, claiming it not only was "arbitrary and capricious," but that it violated ISPs' First Amendment rights. The FCC's pushing to have the suit dismissed, arguing the period for judicial review doesn't begin until the rules are formally published in the Federal Register. It's expected that the CTIA and NCTA will be filing their own lawsuits once the FCC's new rules show up in the Federal Register. Should they survive ISP lawsuit, the rules may still be overturned should the FCC see new leadership after a 2016 party shift. Until then, net neutrality opponents have had to settle for several weeks of hearings aimed largely at It's expected that the CTIA and NCTA will be filing their own lawsuits once the FCC's new rules show up in the Federal Register. Should they survive ISP lawsuit, the rules may still be overturned should the FCC see new leadership after a 2016 party shift. Until then, net neutrality opponents have had to settle for several weeks of hearings aimed largely at shaming the agency for standing up to the nation's largest and most powerful broadband ISPs.







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Decatur, GA 4 recommendations 8744675 Member It's nice to see that Wheeler's loyalty changed with his job description As a former industry lobbyist, I wasn't expecting much from Tom Wheeler, but it appears he's gone from being the best industry lobbyist at his old job to being the best consumer advocate at the FCC.



He hasn't been afraid to publicly call out the industry on their B.S. tactics.