The Court of Appeals for DC has ruled unanimously that the FCC does not have the power to impose network neutrality:
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission lacks the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a big victory for Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable company. It had challenged the FCC’s authority to impose so-called “net neutrality” obligations on broadband providers.
The ruling also marks a serious setback for the FCC, which is trying to officially set net neutrality regulations.
This is a good thing for technology, as I explain here and here. It’s obviously a good thing for property rights, and it’s also good for the rule of law, as the FCC had no authority to do what it was trying to do:
Because the FCC “has failed to tie its assertion” of regulatory authority to any actual law enacted by Congress, the agency does not have the authority to regulate an Internet provider’s network management practices, wrote Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
(Via Hot Air.) (Previous post.)
