Court Rejects Suit on Network Neutrality Rules

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit rejected as “premature” a lawsuit by Verizon and MetroPCS challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s pending rules aimed at keeping Internet service providers from blocking access to certain Web sites or applications.

While the decision is a first-round victory for the FCC and its chairman, Julius Genachowski, the real battle over the agency’s attempt to regulate broadband providers has barely begun. Several broadband companies, and some consumer advocacy and public interest groups, are likely to return to court this year to challenge aspects of the rules. Edward S. McFadden, a Verizon spokesman, said that the company intended to refile its lawsuit this year.

The Verizon lawsuit was dismissed as premature, the court said, because federal regulations dictate that a challenge to new FCC rules must come within 10 days after a new rule is published in the Federal Register. That publication has not taken place, although the FCC approved its rules in December, because the regulations must be reviewed for compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. That FCC review, which includes a 60-day public comment period, will be completed this month. Then, the Office of Management and Budget will conduct a review, with a 30-day comment period, before the rules are published. Once the regulations are published in the Federal Register, any legal challenge filed in 10 days is entered in a lottery to determine the legal venue. Verizon and MetroPCS tried to sidestep that provision by contending that the rules modified their licenses to operate wireless broadband networks. So, they said, the dispute was a licensing issue, not an appeal of a new rule, a position the court rejected.