OTI Defends Open Internet Order in Federal Court

WASHINGTON, DC — New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) filed a brief in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today to defend the Open Internet Order from a legal challenge brought by telecom industry groups. OTI joined dozens of public interest groups, Internet companies, startups, and consumer advocates in filing as intervenors in the case alongside the Federal Communications Commission, which approved the historic network neutrality rules on February 26.

The following statement can be attributed to Sarah Morris, Senior Policy Counsel for New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“Threats to Internet openness are real, documented, and evolving. To respond to those threats, the FCC in February enacted the strongest net neutrality rules to date—rules that apply to fixed and mobile broadband, and that include jurisdiction over the interconnection disputes that have disrupted Internet access for users across the country. Importantly, the FCC also righted course in defining the legal support for those rules by following the roadmap provided by the Supreme Court and the D.C. Circuit for sound Title II authority. This was the correct path, and New America's Open Technology Institute is proud to stand with many other groups supporting the FCC as intervenors in this litigation.

“The intervenors brief filed today underscores why the FCC’s rules are on solid legal footing. The FCC gave adequate notice for its ultimate course of action, evidenced by the incredibly robust record on which they relied. And importantly, reclassification of broadband Internet access service as a Title II service was squarely within their jurisdiction and authority as an expert agency. This is true in the context of broadband Internet access offered over both wired and wireless networks.

“The number and variety of intervenors participating in today’s brief and the breadth of amicus briefs also filed in support of the government reiterate that momentum is on the side of the millions of Americans who made their voices heard during the net neutrality proceeding, and the FCC that crafted and enacted the historic rules.”