“The key here is not whether broadband internet service providers use telecommunications; it is whether they do so while simultaneously offering consumers the opportunity to do more,” Griffin wrote, concluding that “that is indeed the case.”
“The FCC has exceeded its statutory authority,” Griffin wrote, at one point accusing the FCC of advocating a reading of the statute “that is overly sweeping.”
The three-judge panel ordered a stay of the FCC's order imposing net neutrality rules — known as the Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet Order.
In a statement, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel suggested that Congress would likely be the only path to ensuring net neutrality in the future. In the Federal Register, experts noted that net neutrality is critical to encouraging new applications, services or content, and warned that without clear rules the next Amazon or YouTube could be slowed down before it can get off the ground.
“Consumers across the country have told us time and time again that they want an Internet that is fast, open and fair,” Rosenworcel said. “With this decision, it is clear that Congress must now heed their call, take responsibility for net neutrality and enshrine open internet principles into federal law.”
Rosenworcel will soon leave the FCC and will be replaced by Trump's new FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, who helped overturn net neutrality in 2017 and is expected to relax broadband rules once he is confirmed.
