Mozilla Re-Files Suit Against FCC to Protect Net Neutrality
Given that the Supreme Court has previously upheld both of the FCC’s classifications of broadband under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, first as an “information service” and then as a “telecommunications service” (when Wheeler reclassified it to impose net neutrality), there is no way that they will strike down a return to the “information service” classification.<p>By a legal doctrine known as “Chevron deference”, the courts defer to regulatory agencies in choosing between plausible interpretations of the law, instead of choosing an interpretation themselves. From the text of the Act, it is not clear what broadband internet service is. If a “telecommunications service”, it is subject to the very extensive Title II requirements including common carriage. So while the FCC classified it as an “information service” in the early 2000s, it reclassified it as a “telecommunications service” in 2015 in order to impose net neutrality. Both of these classifications were challenged in court and survived scrutiny. Now the FCC has gone back to the “information service” classification. There is no reason to think that the court has changed its mind on the reasonableness of either interpretation of the act, so any suits challenging this would need to allege some procedural deficiency in how the FCC promulgated the new regulation. The plaintiffs are not likely to prevail.