FCC Says Supremes' Decision Backs Its Open Internet Order Authority

The FCC has told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the Supreme Court's recent ruling in the commission tower-siting case (City of Arlington v. FCC) means the agency's interpretation of an ISP in the Open Internet order is due deference by the court.

The appeals court is hearing Verizon's challenge to that Open Internet order.

In a filing to the court Thursday, following a similar one by Verizon citing another recent court case, the FCC pointed to that Supreme Court decision, which held that an agency's interpretation of the limits of its own authority should be given so called "Chevron deference" by appeals courts asked to make a ruling on a challenge to that authority.

"Chevron deference thus clearly applies to the Commission's interpretation of the statutes on which its authority rests in this [Open Internet] case," FCC attorneys told the court in the filing. "[T]he agency's reasonable interpretations of provisions in the Communications Act and the Telecommunications Act of 1996 warrant deference."

The appeals court has yet to schedule oral argument in the case, but look for FCC lawyers to make the Supreme Court decision an important part of that argument.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.