Verizon: DC Court Must Hear Net Neutrality Challenge

Verizon has told a federal court in Washington that no matter who files suit against the Federal Communications Commission's recently codified network neutrality rules and whatever circuit the suits wind up being consolidated in, its challenge to them as a license modification must be heard separately and by the DC circuit alone.

That is the court that held that the FCC had not justified its Internet regulatory authority in smacking down Comcast for blocking BitTorrent files, and Verizon has suggested the FCC's new net neutrality regulations should meet the same fate. In its motion to deny the FCC's motion to dismiss the suit, Verizon told the court that the court still needed to weigh in by Feb. 3 on Verizon's request that the court assign the same panel of judges to Verizon's case as decided the FCC BitTorrent decision, citing their expertise in the issue. In its filing with the court Monday, Verizon said its filing was not premature, but that it had signaled that "out of an abundance of caution," it would also file after the rules are published in the Federal Register. The FCC had argued that such publication triggers the filing window, while Verizon said it was triggered by the FCC's release of the order in late December.