CAGW Applauds Ruling to Block Internet Regulation

(Washington, D.C.) - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today expressed satisfaction with today’s ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has no authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet content flowing through their networks.  “The court slapped the FCC pretty hard with this ruling,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “This ruling is a wake-up call to those in Washington, D.C. who seek to extend and expand government control over the Internet through ‘open network’ or ‘network neutrality policies,” continued Schatz. 

The plaintiff in the case, Comcast Corporation, argued that as an Internet service provider (ISP) it should have the right to treat some content differently in order to ensure that certain content providers that take up significant amounts of  bandwidth don’t monopolize the capacity of the Internet, slowing access for other Internet users.  The FCC found that Comcast’s policy contravened federal communications regulations.   The Court rejected that conclusion, finding that the FCC did not even have “ancillary” authority to control and ISP’s network management practices.
 
The court’s decision limits the boundaries of the FCC’s regulatory authority over the workings of the Internet.  The agency has been working on a controversial broadband plan and critics, such as CAGW, have questioned whether the FCC should even be engaged in that activity.  In regard to network management practices, the Court made it clear that such jurisdiction rests in Congress under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and that Congress would have to change the law to give the FCC express authority to regulate content on the Internet.

“The Court sided with the free market in this case.  It sent a clear message that the Internet doesn’t need to be micromanaged by Washington bureaucrats.   That sort of meddling and manipulation will kill the innovation and creativity of the Internet by rapidly producing a giant, inflexible, and wasteful bureaucracy.   Once the government gets a foot in the door, there would be no stopping it from politicizing the Internet completely.  The Court ruled correctly; in an era when Washington is grabbing more and more power over society, Americans don’t need a federal agency acting as the Internet police,” concluded Schatz. 

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. 

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