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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday that it would not hear a closely watched case on the future of the Internet – rejecting a request from telecom groups demanding neutrality of the Internet. 39 or the principle that Internet service providers should treat all online content equally.
According to the Court's announcement, three of the Court's judges – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – would have voted in favor of the case and overturned the decision of a lower court upholding the neutrality rules of the court. Net adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. in 2015.
But there were not enough judges for the majority, after Chief Justice John Roberts and Judge Brett Kavanaugh recused themselves. (Roberts'Financial information from last year showed that it held shares in Time Warner, a company now owned by AT & T under the name WarnerMedia, while Kavanaugh took part in the case as a lower court judge.)
As a result, the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is upheld. This opinion in 2016 stated that the Federal Communications Commission had acted within its powers by approving radical new rules the previous year. which imposed new obligations on Internet providers such as AT & T, Comcast and Verizon.
FCC rules prohibited operators from blocking or slowing down websites and offering websites faster delivery to consumers at new additional charges. Suppliers complained that the rules were too heavy and a violation of the powers conferred by the FCC in Congress; Consumer advocates have stated that the rules are necessary as a vital consumer protection. The DC circuit complied with the regulations, prompting industry groups to bring the case to the Supreme Court.
But even as the Supreme Court wondered whether the appeal should be filed, the FCC, headed by Republican President Ajit Pai, decided to cancel the rules. In 2017, the new FCC decided to dismiss much of its authority over Internet access providers and transferred much of the responsibility for internet neutrality to a sister agency, the Federal Trade Commission. The repeal came into effect this summer.
The GOP's effort to repeal the FCC's net neutrality rules sparked a series of separate litigation, with technology companies and consumer groups suing to block deregulation. This action, which is also pending before the DC circuit, is becoming the center of the legal battle around the neutrality of the Internet, the Supreme Court having decided not to hear his record of neutrality of the Internet. The Justice Department has also agreed to suspend its recent lawsuit against California over the new Internet neutrality law, at least until the case before the DC circuit is resolved.
Internet providers who had appealed to the Supreme Court said they support an open Internet.
"Rather than adopting tedious regulations and judicial procedures, the time has come for Congress to adopt bipartite legislation and to solve this problem once and for all," said CTIA, the largest professional association of the wireless telecommunications sector in Washington.
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