WASHINGTON: A US appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld hotly contested "Open Internet" regulations that prohibit broadband carriers from playing favorites or blocking competing online services.
The so-called "net neutrality" rules, which essentially categorizes high-speed Internet as a public utility, won court approval after two past efforts failed.
The US Appeals Court panel in Washington dealt a setback to major broadband firms like Verizon and AT&T, which claimed the rules unfairly restrict providers and discourage investment.
Judge David Tatel, writing for the 2-1 majority, said the Federal Communications Commission's decision last year to reclassify Internet firms as "common carriers" that can be regulated like phone companies "is a permissible exercise of its authority."
In a 115-page opinion, Tatel wrote that "the role of broadband providers is analogous to that of telephone companies: they act as neutral, indiscriminate platforms for transmission of speech of any and all users."
The ruling is a victory for consumer groups and others who argued that a handful of Internet providers, without these rules, could effectively block or hamper big online services like Netflix or smaller ones that compete with those backed by the broadband provider.
"This decision should lay to rest what has become a needlessly contentious issue," said Gene Kimmelman of the consumer group Public Knowledge.
"Now consumers will be assured the right to full access to the Internet without interference from gatekeepers."
Ed Black of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which represents various Internet and tech firms, also welcomed the ruling.
"This is a huge, historic victory for all Internet users," Black said.
"It means no company can act as a gatekeeper for Internet content. It ensures that smaller startups and service providers will be able to compete on equal terms for Internet traffic with established companies."
The new rule also applies the concept to mobile Internet carriers, preventing them from blocking or throttling content for competitive reasons.
Two previous efforts by the US Federal Communications Commission were tossed out by the appellate court in Washington, but earlier this year the agency tried again with a new twist, applying the 1934 law that regulates phone companies, categorizing Internet firms as public utility providers.
- More appeals likely -
But the cable and Internet providers, which contend the regulation limits their ability to invest and innovate, could appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court.
"We have always expected this issue to be decided by the Supreme Court, and we look forward to participating in that appeal," said AT&T general counsel David McAtee in a statement.
Berin Szoka, president of the advocacy group TechFreedom, which joined the lawsuit, said the ruling only prolongs a "decade-long melodrama," and pledged to join an appeal to the full appeals court and Supreme Court.
"That legal process could take years," Szoka said. "In the meantime, the FCC now has a blank check to regulate the Internet however it sees fit."
Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a think tank which opposed the rules, said the reclassification of broadband "was a mistake."
"Common carriage is simply a very poor fit for regulating the rapidly evolving technology that underpins today's broadband networks and allows them to adapt to the changing demands we place on them," Atkinson said in a statement.
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