Verizon Tries To Jump The Legal Line In Challenging FCC's Weak Net Neutrality Rules

from the speed-up-the-process dept

There was a noticeable split when the FCC announced its vague and totally watered down net neutrality rules last month. The rules were prepared in close conjunction with AT&T. And while they’re pretty similar to what Verizon and Google had proposed, the fact that Verizon didn’t get to work on it so closely with the FCC left it with hurt feelings. The scuttlebutt was that the FCC was pretty pissed off about the Google/Verizon announcement which derailed some other negotiations the FCC was already involved in.

In response, even though these rules are completely watered down and really have plenty of loopholes and clauses favorable to the telcos, Verizon, more or less on principle, has decided to fight them, just to make sure that the FCC can’t implement stricter rules later (which seems pretty unlikely anyway). However, it also tried to jump the legal line. Rather than filing a lawsuit in a district court, it went straight to the Appeals Court of the DC circuit, leapfrogging the standard district court and appeals process. Apparently, it’s using a rather unique legal interpretation to claim that it can do this, though others are pointing out if this is accurate, then basically all cases involving FCC regulations would be forced into that single court, killing off the idea of having different circuits examine issues.

Filed Under: ,
Companies: fcc, verizon

Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Verizon Tries To Jump The Legal Line In Challenging FCC's Weak Net Neutrality Rules”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
5 Comments
Jose_X (profile) says:

Hope Verizon gets their changes

..if that means I can get mine as well.

We should all be able to get our changes in place. We are all having our rights restricted.

On the other hand, if I can’t get authority to broadcast over the air as I see fit and stick fiber through public areas and into private dwellings, then I think Verizon needs to have their rights restricted as well.

They aren’t a more important (cough) person than me just because they have more money.

milrtime83 (profile) says:

They were going to fight any rules that were put in place just to shift what the perceived “center ground” is.

It seems like a situation where I say you should get paid $10 and you think you should get $100. The compromise would be somewhere around $55. I can only go as low as $0 because I can’t make you pay me for you doing the work, but you can go as high as you want. If you say you should get $1000, the middle is around $500 and if you settle for $200 it looks like a compromise but is still way above the $55 you should have gotten.

Hephaestus (profile) says:

“Rather than filing a lawsuit in a district court, it went straight to the Appeals Court of the DC circuit, leapfrogging the standard district court and appeals process. “

If this doesn’t get bounced, Verizon just opened up the flood gates to people challenging every law they don’t like or that seems unconstitutional. It could in effect change things.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...
Older Stuff
04:48 Dumb Telecom Take Of The Week: Because The Internet Didn't Explode, Killing Net Neutrality Must Not Have Mattered (23)
09:37 British Telecom Wants Netflix To Pay A Tax Simply Because Squid Game Is Popular (32)
04:55 Axios Parrots A Lot Of Dumb, Debunked Nonsense About Net Neutrality (54)
10:50 NY AG Proves Broadband Industry Funded Phony Public Support For Attack On Net Neutrality (10)
06:24 The GOP Is Using Veterans As Props To Demonize Net Neutrality (22)
06:03 Telecom Using Veterans As Props To Demonize California's New Net Neutrality Law (12)
09:32 AT&T Whines That California Net Neutrality Rules Are Forcing It To Behave (11)
06:23 The New York Times (Falsely) Informs Its 7 Million Readers Net Neutrality Is 'Pointless' (51)
15:34 Facebook's Australian News Ban Did Demonstrate The Evil Of Zero Rating (18)
04:58 'Net Neutrality Hurt Internet Infrastructure Investment' Is The Bad Faith Lie That Simply Won't Die (11)
05:48 Dumb New GOP Talking Point: If You Restore Net Neutrality, You HAVE To Kill Section 230. Just Because! (66)
06:31 DOJ Drops Ridiculous Trump-Era Lawsuit Against California For Passing Net Neutrality Rules (13)
06:27 The Wall Street Journal Kisses Big Telecom's Ass In Whiny Screed About 'Big Tech' (13)
10:45 New Interim FCC Boss Jessica Rosenworcel Will Likely Restore Net Neutrality, Just Not Yet (5)
15:30 Small Idaho ISP 'Punishes' Twitter And Facebook's 'Censorship' ... By Blocking Access To Them Entirely (81)
05:29 A Few Reminders Before The Tired Net Neutrality Debate Is Rekindled (13)
06:22 U.S. Broadband Speeds Jumped 90% in 2020. But No, It Had Nothing To Do With Killing Net Neutrality. (12)
12:10 FCC Ignores The Courts, Finalizes Facts-Optional Repeal Of Net Neutrality (19)
10:46 It's Opposite Day At The FCC: Rejects All Its Own Legal Arguments Against Net Neutrality To Claim It Can Be The Internet Speech Police (13)
12:05 Blatant Hypocrite Ajit Pai Decides To Move Forward With Bogus, Unconstitutional Rulemaking On Section 230 (178)
06:49 FCC's Pai Puts Final Bullet In Net Neutrality Ahead Of Potential Demotion (25)
06:31 The EU Makes It Clear That 'Zero Rating' Violates Net Neutrality (6)
06:22 DOJ Continues Its Quest To Kill Net Neutrality (And Consumer Protection In General) In California (11)
11:08 Hypocritical AT&T Makes A Mockery Of Itself; Says 230 Should Be Reformed For Real Net Neutrality (28)
06:20 Trump, Big Telecom Continue Quest To Ban States From Protecting Broadband Consumers (19)
06:11 Senators Wyden And Markey Make It Clear AT&T Is Violating Net Neutrality (13)
06:31 Net Neutrali-what? AT&T's New Streaming Service Won't Count Against Its Broadband Caps. But Netflix Will. (25)
06:23 Telecom's Latest Dumb Claim: The Internet Only Works During A Pandemic Because We Killed Net Neutrality (49)
13:36 Ex-FCC Staffer Says FCC Authority Given Up In Net Neutrality Repeal Sure Would Prove Handy In A Crisis (13)
06:27 Clarence Thomas Regrets Brand X Decision That Paved Way For The Net Neutrality Wars (11)
More arrow