Groups Oppose NAB Court Petition to Delay Political File Rules

Free Press, the Campaign Legal Center and other fans of the Federal Communications Commission's online political file-posting rules has told a federal court not to grant the National Association of Broadcasters' request that it stay the Aug. 2 effective date of the rules until the court rules on NAB's July 10 challenge. Campaign Legal Center et al. say that NAB has not met any of the criteria for such a stay. They say NAB is not likely to succeed on the merits of its argument that the FCC action was arbitrary and capricious, a standard of review it says is "narrow and deferential to the agency." It says the FCC decision does not raise antitrust concerns, nor was it unreasonable to have declined an alternative proposal by stations. As to the claim of irreparable harm, the groups say they are purely speculative and unsupported. By contrast, they say they would be harmed by the stay since it would make it much harder for them to research the impact of third party groups and campaigns on elections.