FCC won’t appeal net neutrality ruling, will write new regulations

The Federal Communications Commission has decided not to appeal a recent court ruling that shot down its net neutrality restrictions and will instead write fresh regulations to keep ISPs in check, reports The Washington Post. The Post’s Cecilia Kang says that the FCC plans to rewrite net neutrality rules under its authority granted by Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Reuters, via CNBC, adds that the commission is still very interested in making sure ISPs can’t discriminate against traffic for rivals’ services but adds that it wants to make sure it does so in a way that doesn’t get struck down by the courts.

The Wall Street Journal adds that the FCC plans to get its revised net neutrality regulations written and published by the late spring or early summer and that it’s still considering whether it wants to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers. While the FCC has signaled that it would be reluctant to reclassify ISPs as common carriers in the past, the commission might want to keep that option open as a way to gain leverage over ISPs and make them more receptive to less restrictive measures.

The FCC’s original net neutrality restrictions were shot down by the the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last month. The ruling was a major victory for telecom and cable companies who have fought all net neutrality restrictions vociferously for years.

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