AT&T Urges Supreme Court To Hear Net Neutrality Appeal

The Federal Communications Commission exceeded its authority by passing net neutrality rules that re-classified broadband access as a utility service, AT&T argues in a petition to the Supreme Court.

The company is asking the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the D.C. Circuit Court's recent decision upholding the 2015 net neutrality rules. Those regulations classified broadband as a "telecommunications" service and imposed some common carrier rules, including prohibitions on blocking and throttling service, and on charging higher fees for prioritized delivery of material.

AT&T now argues to the Supreme Court that the Communications Act requires the FCC to treat broadband as an "information" service, which isn't subject to utility-style regulations.

"Any broadband Internet access service -- fixed or mobile -- is an information service and is thus immune from common carrier regulation under the general definitional provisions of the Communications Act," AT&T argues in papers submitted Thursday.

The net neutrality rules are supported by many Silicon Valley companies as well as consumer advocates, who argue that Internet service providers shouldn't serve as gatekeepers to the web. But Internet service providers argue that they shouldn't be subject to utility-style regulations.

Current FCC Chair Ajit Pai, a vocal critic of the 2015 net neutrality rules, recently proposed rolling them back by re-classifying broadband as an information service. AT&T says in its legal papers that even if Pai's proposal is accepted, it will ask the Supreme Court to vacate the Court of Appeals' decision.

The net neutrality rules are supported by many Silicon Valley companies as well as consumer advocates, who argue that Internet service providers shouldn't serve as gatekeepers to the web. But Internet service providers argue that they shouldn't be subject to utility-style regulations.

The group TechFreedom, which also opposed the net neutrality order, argues in a separate friend-of-the-court petition that the Supreme Court should accept the case in order to resolve questions about the FCC's power to regulate the web.

"This Court should take this opportunity to address ... whether the FCC may impose common carriage regulation upon broadband services," TechFreedom writes. The group adds that a decision to accept the case "could resolve an issue of immense economic and political significance to the nation, finally affording businesses and consumers with the regulatory stability necessary to deploying broadband."

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