Lawsuits Arrive as Net Neutrality Order Is Published in FR
Net neutrality litigation flared Thursday after Federal Register publication of the FCC’s December "Restoring Internet Freedom" order, as expected (see 1802210057). New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) announced he and 22 other Democratic AGs filed their petition for review at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The order is “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act,” and violates the Constitution, Communications Act and notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements of 5 U.S. Code § 553, the AGs said.
Public Knowledge said it also filed suit Thursday at the D.C. Circuit, and Free Press said it will soon refile its petition for review at the 1st Circuit. The California Public Utilities Commission sued the FCC in the 9th Circuit. Litigants have 10 days to file petitions for review if they want to be included in a court lottery to determine the venue for consolidating challenges expected to be filed in different circuits.
FCC Democratic commissioners noted publication with disdain. “Today it is official: the FCC majority has taken the next step in handing the keys to the internet over to billion-dollar broadband providers by publishing the Destroying Internet Freedom Order," said Mignon Clyburn. "I am both disappointed and hopeful. Disappointed that this is one more anti-consumer notch on this FCC’s belt, but hopeful that the arc of history is bent in favor of net neutrality protections." Jessica Rosenworcel said: "This agency failed the American public. It failed to listen to their concerns and gave short shrift to their deeply held belief that internet openness should remain the law of the land. It turned a blind eye to all kinds of corruption in our public record -- from Russian intervention to fake comments to stolen identities in our files. As a result of the mess the agency created, broadband providers will now have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content. This is not right. The FCC is on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the law and it deserves to have its handiwork revisited, reexamined, and ultimately reversed.”
Both lawmakers leading the planned introduction of a Congressional Review Act resolution aimed at repealing the FCC’s order -- Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa. -- touted the coming legislation in Thursday statements. Doyle and Markey plan a Tuesday news conference in conjunction with that day’s net neutrality “Day of Action” at which the lawmakers will “discuss momentum” for the measure. Supporters of the 2015 rules are “coming for our net neutrality and we will not stop,” Markey said: Publication “just triggered a timeline that will culminate in a Senate vote on my resolution, and we cannot let up until we win.”
Markey again sought at least one more Republican senator’s support for the resolution, which would give it bare majority support in the chamber. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and all 49 members of the Senate Democratic caucus already publicly support the measure (see 1801160055). The time "in which legislation to overturn the order can be introduced has begun, and we can begin the legislative process to overrule the FCC and preserve net neutrality,” Doyle said with House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. At least 143 representatives have signed as co-sponsors of Doyle’s resolution.