Verizon v. FCC: On To Plan B?

On February 2, less than two weeks after Verizon filed its unusual motion asking that its appeal of the network neutrality decision be assigned to the same panel that trashed the Federal Communications Commission in the Comcast opinion last April, that panel has denied the motion.

Don't count on sifting through a detailed opinion to obtain subtle nuances of potential significance. The panel’s order consists of a single sentence: “Upon consideration of the appellant’s motion to assign the case to the panel that decided Comcast Corp. v. FCC, it is ordered that the motion be denied.” Verizon’s appellate strategy has thus suffered a serious blow, but an important element of that strategy is still alive, at least for the time being. Its “notice of appeal” is still pending, although the FCC has moved to dismiss that as well.