Broadband giants sue the FCC to stop new net neutrality rules

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was expected a legal challenge, just not so soon

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

last updated 24 March 2015

The only surprise here is the timing: On Monday, the lobbying group US Telecom filed what amounts to a placeholder lawsuit to block the Federal Communications Commission's decision to reclassify broadband internet as a Title II utility, as a way to enforce net neutrality. US Telecom counts among its members Verizon, AT&T, and other broadband heavyweights. Texas provider Alamo Broadband filed a similar, separate suit Monday with the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

US Telecom, which filed its suit with the federal appellate court in Washington, D.C., and Alamo jumped in because they didn't want their actual lawsuits to be dismissed on a technicality. The FCC says that challenges can be filed up to 60 days after its net neutrality rules are published in the Federal Register, expected in the next few days, but the broadband companies pointed to a 10-day window from when the FCC released its rules, on March 12.

The filings on Monday were light on details, but "the focus of our legal appeal will be on the FCC's decision to reclassify broadband internet access service as a public utility service after a decade of amazing innovation and investment under the FCC's previous light-touch approach," explains Jon Banks, a US Telecom senior vice president. Which, honestly, sounds more like lobbying than a legal appeal.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.