Authority in the Internet Age

D.C. Circuit Court decision has called into question the FCC's ability to regulate the Internet.

Nancy Scola | April 7, 2010 | web only

Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit Court dropped a major decision that calls into question the Federal Communications Commission's jurisdiction over the Internet. The case in question had to do with the FCC's 2008 reprimand of Comcast when the cable company throttled its customers' use of the peer-to-peer file-sharing software BitTorrent.

What the court rejected was the argument that the FCC has the power to regulate the networks that together make up the Internet under what's called "ancillary authority" extrapolated from the powers expressly granted to the FCC by Congress.

The decision introduces an element of major uncertainty when it comes to everything from the FCC's promotion of net neutrality to the future of its recently announced National Broadband Plan. Frankly, it's a bad result for anyone interested in a well-regulated communications landscape that isn't simply the playground of the telecom giants.

That said, there's a silver lining. The D.C. Circuit Court's decision in favor of Comcast is a push to update the FCC's authority for the Internet age.

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http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=authority_in_the_internet_age