U.S. Court of Appeals: The FCC Does Not Have Authority to Regulate the Internet

U.S. Court of Appeals: The FCC Does Not Have Authority to Regulate the Internet
A federal court ruled this week that the Federal Communications Commission does not have the power to control how private Internet providers manage their online networks. Says Cato scholar Jim Harper, "Slow-moving, technologically unsophisticated bureaucrats do not know better than consumers and technologists how to run the Internet. The FCC's 'net neutrality' hopes are nothing more than public utility regulation for broadband." "Network neutrality" activists have long pushed for legislation that would give the government massive regulatory powers over the Internet. Now that the FCC no longer has the power, advocates will look to Congress. Harper explains why that would be a major step in the wrong direction: The Internet is far more durable than regulators and advocates imagine. And regulators are far less capable of neutrally arbitrating what’s in the public interest than most people realize. The FCC doesn’t have authority to regulate the Internet. Congress and the president shouldn’t give it that authority. To understand “network neutrality,” read Timothy B. Lee’s definitive paper, “The Durable Internet: Preserving Network Neutrality without Regulation,” which explains how the market can continue to provide the most promising future for the Web.