Supreme Court Will Not Adopt Net Neutrality – This Time

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would not hear a closely monitored case on the future of the Internet – rejecting a request from telecom groups demanding neutrality of the Internet. internet or the principle that Internet service providers should treat all online content in the same way.

According to the Court's announcement, three of the Court's judges – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch – are reported to have voted in favor of this case and would overrule the decision of a lower court upholding the rules of the court. network neutrality of the Federal Communications Commission, which were originally adopted in 2015. But there were not enough judges for a majority, after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh recused himself. (Roberts' financial information for last year showed that he was a shareholder of Time Warner, a company now owned by AT & T under the name of WarnerMedia, while Kavanaugh was involved in the deal in as a judge in the lower court.)

As a result, the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit is upheld. This notice, in 2016, asserted that the Federal Communications Commission had acted within its powers by approving radical new rules the previous year, imposing new obligations on Internet service 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. The suppliers complained of the excessive weight of the rules and the violation of the powers conferred by the FCC on Congress; Consumer advocates have stated that the rules are necessary as a vital consumer protection. The circuit of the Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed compliance 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 providers and entrusted 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 rules on internet neutrality has sparked a series of separate litigation, with technology companies and consumer groups suing to block deregulation. This action, which is also pending before the circuit of the CC, quickly becomes the center of the legal battle around the neutrality of the Internet, the Supreme Court having decided not to hear its case. The Justice Department has also agreed to suspend its recent lawsuit against California over the new Internet Neutrality Act, at least until the case whose minutes are settled is adjusted.

Internet providers who had appealed to the Supreme Court said they support an open Internet.

"Rather than back-and-forth regulations and lengthy court proceedings, now is the time for Congress to enact bipartite legislation and solve this problem once and for all," said CTIA, the most great professional association of the wireless sector in Washington.