D.C. Memo: Net Neutrality Legal Drama Builds as ISPs Seek Court Stay
◾ How long can DIRECTV Stay Airborne? ◾ WISPA Renews Call for Small ISP Exemptions ◾ Supreme Court Protects FCC's Universal Service Fund
Net Neutrality: FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s Net Neutrality rules could come face-to-face with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sooner than anyone expected. And that could be a serious problem for the FCC because as a Circuit Judge in 2017, Kavanaugh called the FCC’s 2015 Net Neutrality rules “unlawful” and “must be vacated” as a violation of the Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine. The potential trip to Kavanaugh’s chambers began Monday when major ISPs went to court to block the FCC’s Net Neutrality rules scheduled to take effect on July 22.
Formally, the ISPs asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati for a judicial stay, saying the FCC’s utility-style regulatory regime would inflict irreparable harm and cause ISPs to delay or forgo new offerings and expansion plans. They asked the court to issue a decision by July 15. “This court should stay the FCC’s latest flip-flop pending judicial review. Petitioners are overwhelmingly likely to succeed on the merits,” the ISPs said in a 39-page filing with the Sixth Circuit.