Network Neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai pushed back hard against suggestions by fellow-FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel that he was playing "hide the ball" with the way the FCC issues its request for comment on the remand of some of its net neutrality dereg order. Rep.

A group of interested stakeholders has cited the coronavirus in asking the Federal Communications Commission to extend the comment deadline on a court's remand of portions of its Restoring Internet Freedom order. In a motion for extension of time, the groups said that "the staff, officials and line level first responders who possess the knowledge necessary to respond to these questions are preoccupied with preparing for, and conducting, emergency responses to a public safety crisis of unprecedented magnitude brought on by the rapid spread of COVID-19." They also pointed out that since the c

The Trump Federal Communications Commission’s overzealous efforts to remove broadband providers from any obligations to protect internet users defies what Congress clearly intended for these critical communications services. Our national goal of achieving universal broadband service faces several roadblocks without the FCC’s Title II authority. The agency will also have difficulty upholding public safety if we don’t restore this crucial legal standard. These harms are already playing out. Feb.

The Federal Communications Commission's request for comment on its net neutrality deregulation has become the busiest docket at the commission, drawing over three thousand comments in the past 30 days. According to a thumbnail survey, the comments continue to be general ones calling for the return of the rules and Title II classification, rather than on the specifics of the FCC request.

Chairman Davis, Vice Chair Dumais, members of the Committee, my name is Gigi Sohn and I am a Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy and a Senior Fellow with the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. I have been a public interest advocate for open, affordable and accessible communications networks for over 30 years. I was Counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler from 2013-2016, and during that time, I helped the FCC adopt the 2015 Open Internet Order, which included the strongest ever network neutrality rules.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wants a do-over on his 2005 decision in a case that had a major impact on the power of federal agencies and regulation of the broadband industry. In National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, better known as Brand X, Justice Thomas wrote the 6-3 majority opinion that upheld a Federal Communications Commission decision to classify cable broadband as an information service. But in a dissent on a new case released Feb 24, Justice Thomas wrote that he got Brand X wrong.

AT&T's mandatory-arbitration clause is unenforceable in a class-action case over AT&T's throttling of unlimited data, a panel of US appeals court judges ruled. The nearly five-year-old case has gone through twists and turns, with AT&T's forced-arbitration clause initially being upheld in March 2016.

In early October 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its ruling in Mozilla Corporation vs Federal Communications Commission, the case that challenged the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of network neutrality rules (the Restoring Internet F

Overturning the Federal Communications Commission’s opt-in privacy rule resulted in lower prices for wired and wireless Internet service. Both these declines are about $40 per subscriber over the life of the subscription, which is similar to independent estimates of the per-subscriber cost of obtaining personal data consent from retail customers that are the basis for our quantitative analysis. By removing vertical pricing regulations, the Trump Administration’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” order will increase real incomes by more than $50 billion per year and consumer welfare by almost $40

The FCC got it wrong when it repealed net neutrality. The decision put the agency on the wrong side of history, the American public, and the law. And the courts agreed. That’s why they sent back to this agency key pieces regarding how the rollback of net neutrality protections impacted public safety, low income Americans, and broadband infrastructure. Today, the FCC is seeking comment on how best to move forward. My advice? The American public should raise their voices and let Washington know how important an open internet is for every piece of our civic and commercial lives.