A US appeal court ruled on Tuesday the Federal Communications Commission did not have legal authority to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules.
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The decision is a blow to the outgoing Biden administration that had made restoring the open internet rules a priority. US President Joe Biden signed a 2021 executive order encouraging the FCC to reinstate the rules.
A three-judge panel of the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the FCC lacked authority to reinstate the rules initially implemented in 2015 by the agency under Democratic former President Barack Obama, but then repealed by the commission in 2017 under Republican former president Donald Trump.
Net-neutrality rules require internet service providers to treat internet data and users equally rather than restricting access, slowing speeds or blocking content for certain users.
The rules also forbid special arrangements in which ISPs give improved network speeds or access to favoured users.
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The court cited the Supreme Court’s June decision in a case known as Loper Bright to overturn a 1984 precedent that had given deference to government agencies in interpreting laws they administer, in the latest decision to curb the authority of federal agencies.
“Applying Loper Bright means we can end the FCC’s vacillations,” the court ruled. The decision leaves in place state neutrality rules adopted by California and others but may end more than 20 years of efforts to give federal regulators sweeping oversight over the internet.