Court Rules Against FCC In Net Neutrality Case
April 6, 2010
| 11:27 AM
Comcast scored a major legal victory Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC exceeded its authority in 2008 when it cracked down on Comcast's network management practices.
While the ruling pertains to an enforcement action issued under former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, it could affect current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's efforts to impose tougher network neutrality rules aimed at preventing broadband providers like Comcast from serving as content gatekeepers on the Internet.
The case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dealt with the FCC's 2008 enforcement action against Comcast for interrupting service to customers who used the high-bandwidth file-sharing service BitTorrent, which Comcast said was slowing down the network.
Comcast argued that the FCC did not have authority to punish the cable and broadband provider because the FCC order was based on a policy statement and not on a rule.
The FCC countered that its authority comes from the "ancillary" authority Congress has provided the agency through the communications act, which states that the FCC "may perform any and all acts, make such rules and regulations, and issue such orders, not inconsistent with this chapter, as may be necessary in the execution of its functions."
In its ruling Tuesday, the appeals court, however, rejected the FCC's argument in this case because it "failed to tie its assertion of ancillary authority over Comcast's Internet service to any 'statutorily mandated responsibility.'"
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