The decision by a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court to
gut net neutrality is very bad news for all internet users. It means that internet service providers now have free rein to block any website or app that they want. The principle that no corporation can censor, or slow down, or block, or on the other hand give preferential treatment to certain web content is gone, thanks to this decision. Think of it as a whole bunch of Chris Christie companies, deciding who ends up in a traffic jam. Any of us could end up being Fort Lee.
The FCC says it is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court. But it's not going to have to take the Supreme Court to decide that the FCC has the authority to impose net neutrality on internet service providers—that's already been established, and was established again in this case. In fact, the decision actually might be one Verizon ends up regretting. You see, Verizon argued that the FCC doesn't have the legal authority to regulate broadband, and this court disagreed. It just ruled that the FCC didn't have the authority to regulate these companies the way it had tried to with the net neutrality rules it had in place.
It's all in how the FCC classifies internet service providers, and that's something that can change without a court.
The idea is called reclassification, and it basically transforms broadband providers from the untouchable companies they currently are into the kind of telecommunications companies the FCC regulates without question all the time, such as wireless operators. [...]
If the FCC were really determined to push net neutrality, it could try to redefine broadband companies as Title II common carriers, much like the telecom companies. This would give the FCC much wider latitude to implement its net neutrality rules. Tuesday's court ruling seemed to leave that possibility open.
Now, that's something well within the legal purview of the FCC, and it's not really a huge deal for the agency. Except that it's a huge deal for the industry, which absolutely does not want net neutrality to rule (after all, Verizon just sued over it). So, as usual, we've got a big battle against industry ahead of us to save the internet. Just like we did with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). But we won on SOPA, and we can win on net neutrality.
What's important in this particular fight isn't just going to be making the FCC do the right thing, it's going to be the groundswell for net neutrality that will help force the industry to behave. They're going to be less likely to abuse the principle of net neutrality if they think the FCC will punish them for it with reclassification. So please sign our petition to the FCC, asking it to reclassify broadband companies and assert its authority to regulate them.