FCC ISSUES OPEN INTERNET NPRM
May 16, 2014
Comments Due: July 15, 2014
Reply Comments Due: September 10, 2014
On May 15, 2014, the Federal Communications Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to propose rules to reinstate and revise the Open Internet rules applicable to broadband services that were vacated by the D.C. Circuit’s January 14 decision in Verizon v. FCC. The Verizon court upheld the Commission’s transparency rule which remains in effect, but vacated rules addressing broadband provider blocking and discrimination as an illegal extension of Title II regulation to information services that the Commission has not classified as telecommunications services subject to Title II.
The Commission’s proposal, if adopted, would enhance the transparency rule, and establish new rules to address broadband provider blocking and discrimination, accepting the court’s invitation to establish such rules under the authority of Section 706. The NPRM also establishes a broader, inchoate standard of “commercial reasonableness” that would apply to all broadband provider practices. The Commission also invited comment on whether broadband services should be subject to Title II and established new enforcement mechanisms.
The NPRM is peppered with tentative conclusions that, if adopted, would create a parallel, confusing and likely highly ineffective new system of regulation and enforcement for broadband providers. The following are the highlights of the NPRM:
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