The DC Circuit also lays out its role in reviewing the FCC’s decision, noting that it “is a limited one. reasonable and grounded in substantial evidence’ and that the Commission had ‘more than adequately supported and explained its conclusion that edge-provider innovation leads to the expansion and improvement of broadband infrastructure.” In its 2014 opinion, the DC cCircuit recognized that absent rules governing net neutrality “broadband providers represent a threat to Internet openness and could act in ways that would ultimately inhibit the speed and extent of future broadband deployment.” However, the court notes that in Verizon, “we upheld the Commission’s conclusion that section 706 provides it authority to promulgate open internet rules” and “the Commission’s ‘finding that Internet openness fosters. Prior to the FCC’s Open Internet Order reclassifying broadband providers, the Internet was classified as an information service, exempt from common carriage rules. The DC Circuit opinion begins with history of the FCC’s Order, including the DC Circuit’s 2014 Verizon opinion in which it vacated the FCC’s 2010 Open Internet Order anti-discrimination and anti-blocking rules as impermissible because they subjected broadband providers to common carrier treatment. Such rules additionally provide essential safeguards to ensure that the Internet flourishes as a platform for education and research. In minority communities where many individuals’ only Internet connection may be through a mobile device, robust open Internet rules help make sure these communities are not negatively impacted by harmful broadband provider conduct. Open Internet rules are also critical for ensuring that people living and working in rural areas can take advantage of the substantial benefits that the open Internet has to offer.
Open Internet rules benefit investors, innovators, and end users by providing more certainty to each regarding broadband providers’ behavior, and helping to ensure the market is conducive to optimal use of the Internet. In its accompanying report, the FCC noted the importance of net neutrality, including for specific communities: The FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order set forth rules governing net neutrality, ensuring that Internet providers cannot create “fast lanes” and “slow lanes” by reclassifying broadband under Title II of the Communications Act while also relying on the FCC’s authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. The DC Circuit found against each of these challenges and denied the petitions for review. On petition for review, the petitioners challenged the FCC’s reclassification of broadband service as a Title II common carriers, reclassification of mobile broadband service, the ban on paid prioritization and the General Conduct Rule, and also argued that the net neutrality rules violate the First Amendment. FCC, upholding the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order by a 2-1 vote.
On Tuesday, June 14, 2016, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit released its long-awaited opinion in U.S.