Press Release
Free Press Argues in Historic Comcast v FCC Case
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- Free Press will argue in support of the Federal Communications Commission today in the Comcast v. FCC case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Free Press counsel Marvin Ammori is arguing for Free Press as an "intervenor" in the case on behalf of public interest groups.
Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott made the following statement on the significance of the case:
"This is the first case testing the authority of the FCC to protect Network Neutrality. Comcast secretly blocked BitTorrent -- a popular Internet application -- without notifying their customers. They denied it for months before the weight of evidence forced them to admit their culpability. This incident is a prime example of why we need solid Net Neutrality rules, but Comcast is still trying to avoid accountability.
"Today’s arguments center on whether the FCC has the legal authority to adjudicate complaints against Net Neutrality violators and whether the process it conducted was fair in the Comcast case. Alongside the FCC, we have cited numerous grounds of legal authority in the Communications Act and presented plain evidence that the FCC handled the case appropriately. The FCC spent nearly a year studying and reviewing the facts of this case before making a measured decision finding Comcast had acted unlawfully. Citing the very ruling it is challenging in court today, Comcast has in fact acknowledged the FCC’s authority to enforce Net Neutrality.
"The critical importance of this case lies in the precedent set by the FCC in its first action to enforce Net Neutrality. If this decision is upheld, it will mark a turning point in telecommunications law and bolster the agency’s current move to make its Network Neutrality principles into much-needed rules."
Copies of the briefs in Comcast v FCC:
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_Amicus_FP.pdf
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_Intervenor_Brief_Final.pdf
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_FCC_Brief.pdf
Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott made the following statement on the significance of the case:
"This is the first case testing the authority of the FCC to protect Network Neutrality. Comcast secretly blocked BitTorrent -- a popular Internet application -- without notifying their customers. They denied it for months before the weight of evidence forced them to admit their culpability. This incident is a prime example of why we need solid Net Neutrality rules, but Comcast is still trying to avoid accountability.
"Today’s arguments center on whether the FCC has the legal authority to adjudicate complaints against Net Neutrality violators and whether the process it conducted was fair in the Comcast case. Alongside the FCC, we have cited numerous grounds of legal authority in the Communications Act and presented plain evidence that the FCC handled the case appropriately. The FCC spent nearly a year studying and reviewing the facts of this case before making a measured decision finding Comcast had acted unlawfully. Citing the very ruling it is challenging in court today, Comcast has in fact acknowledged the FCC’s authority to enforce Net Neutrality.
"The critical importance of this case lies in the precedent set by the FCC in its first action to enforce Net Neutrality. If this decision is upheld, it will mark a turning point in telecommunications law and bolster the agency’s current move to make its Network Neutrality principles into much-needed rules."
Copies of the briefs in Comcast v FCC:
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_Amicus_FP.pdf
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_Intervenor_Brief_Final.pdf
www.freepress.net/files/Comcast_FCC_Brief.pdf
