Courts Imperil Net Neutrality

In a ruling that could derail the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to craft net neutrality rules, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that the agency lacked authority to sanction Comcast for throttling peer-to-peer traffic.

… Broadband advocates who had urged the FCC to take action against Comcast condemned the appellate ruling, saying that it could prevent the commission from enacting any regulations that could affect how broadband is delivered.

“The consequences of this decision go well beyond net neutrality and well beyond the matter at hand,” says S. Derek Turner, research director at Free Press. The ruling, he says, “has left the agency unable to protect consumers in the marketplace.”

Fed Court Rules FCC Has No Authority In Net-Neutrality Case 04/07/2010.