The Federal Communications Commission moved to have Verizon's net neutrality lawsuit dismissed on Wednesday, challenging it on jurisdictional grounds.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. has "exclusive jurisdiction over FCC decisions that modify individual radio licenses," the FCC said in its filing. Because the FCC's net neutrality rules did not modify radio licenses, the appeal should be dismissed, the FCC argued.

"We look forward to defending our open Internet framework in court. This strong and balanced framework has brought certainty and predictability, stimulating investment across the broadband economy," an FCC spokesman said in a statement. "Verizon's legal challenge is not only misguided; it threatens to destabilize an important and growing part of our economy at a critical time."

Verizon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Late last month, Verizon Communications , arguing that the agency had no authority to impose its net neutrality rules. Verizon wants the court to strike down the FCC rules, which are set to go into effect on November 20.

Verizon in January, but the case was in April on a technicality. FCC rules are not officialand therefore open to a legal challengeuntil they are published in the Federal Register. That did not happen , so those who oppose the rules are now free to sue the FCC.

The FCC in December 2010. The basic idea is that everyone should have equal access to the Web. Amazon should not be able to pay to have its Web site load faster than a mom-and-pop e-commerce site, for example. After Comcast was , however, the FCC decided to craft rules that would ban ISPs from discriminating based on content. It was OK to slow down your entire network during peak times, for example, but you couldn't block a particular site, like BitTorrent. The rules approved by the FCC give the commission the authority to step into disputes about how ISPs are managing their networks or initiate their own investigations if they think ISPs are violating its rules.

While the ISPs said they backed the concept of an open Internet and would abide by the FCC's rules, some, like Verizon, argued that the FCC really doesn't have the right to hand down such mandates. Naturally, most companies would prefer no government regulation at all, but if necessary, they argued, Congress should handle it, not the FCC.

On the other side, consumer group over its rules recently, but their argument was that the commission didn't go far enough. The FCC made concessions for wireless companies because they are an emerging market and did not subject them to all the rules that wired ISPs must follow. Free Press said that was an "arbitrary distinction."

In its filing, the FCC said it is facing at least five legal challenges over its net neutrality rules, and is requesting that the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidate all those cases into one.

Update: The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will handle the net neutrality cases, which has on the FCC's rules in the past.

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