Supreme Court rejects industry challenge of 2015 net neutrality rules

The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the broadband industry's challenge of the Federal Communications Commission's 2015 order to impose net neutrality rules and strictly regulate broadband. Of course, the FCC already reversed these rules in 2017, but AT&T and the lobby groups for broadband internet access service providers were still trying to overturn lower court decisions that upheld the 2015 FCC order. The Trump administration supported the industry's case, asking the US Supreme Court to vacate the Obama-era ruling. A win for the broadband industry could have prevented future FCC's from imposing a similarly strict set of rules. But the Supreme Court denied petitions filed by AT&T and broadband lobby groups NCTA (large cable companies), CTIA (wireless carriers), USTelecom (tradition telephone companies), and the American Cable Association (small cable companies). Four of nine justices had to agree to hear a case, but only three (Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch) voted to grant the petitions. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused themselves from the case. Justice Roberts owned stock in AT&T-owned Time Warner, while Justice Kavanaugh took part in the case when he was a judge on the DC Circuit appeals court.