Verizon challenges FCC rules on net neutrality

By Cecilia Kang

Verizon is challenging the Federal Communications Commission's new rules on Internet access with a federal lawsuit, the company announced Thursday.

The FCC order, passed in December, would require internet service providers to treat all content equally on their networks, the so-called net neutrality order.



Verizon Communications said in a press release that it did not believe the agency had the authority to create the rules.



"We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself," said Michael E. Glover, Verizon's senior vice president and deputy general counsel. "We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers."



The FCC rules were the federal government's first attempt to regulate Internet access providers. A lawsuit to overturn the rules was largely expected.

The appeal, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, marks another turn in a years-long battle between regulators, phone and cable giants and Internet firms such as Google and Skype over rules that prohibit Internet access providers from blocking or slowing the delivery of sites and applications.

Google, Amazon and Skype have argued that companies such as Verizon and Comcast could decide to prioritize their own or their partners' services. Such practices would prevent new competition and put too much control in the hands of those Internet access providers, they say.

Last month, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to pass rules that prevent blocking and discrimination of Web services by access providers. The two Democratic commissioners sided with Chairman Julius Genachowski.

Still, there is uncertainty over the FCC's authority to regulate broadband Internet services. The same federal court where Verizon filed its appeal ruled last April that the FCC overstepped its authority when it sanctioned Internet service provider Comcast for blocking file-sharing by users of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer application.

Genachowski said last month that he believed certain parts of the Communications Act gave the FCC the right to carry out the regulations. He said the agency was prepared for a court challenge.

