About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (February 3, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govesik0001 and id is 1 raw text is: No More Deference: Sixth Circuit Relies on Loper Bright to Strike Down Net Neutrality Rules February 3, 2025 On January 2, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Sixth Circuit) vacated the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) most recent net neutrality rules. The court held that, under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), the FCC must treat broadband internet access service (BIAS) as a lightly regulated information service instead of a highly regulated telecommunications service. The court similarly held that BIAS delivered via mobile phones (mobile BIAS) is a lightly regulated private mobile service under the Act instead of a highly regulated commercial mobile service. Because the FCC's authority over BIAS and mobile BIAS is minimal, the court struck down the FCC's net neutrality rules. The decision marks the first time that a court decided for itself-without deferring to the FCC-how BIAS should be treated under the Act. In prior cases, courts relied on the Chevron doctrine to defer to the FCC's reasonable interpretations when faced with ambiguous statutory language. The era of Chevron deference ended, however, with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, leaving to the courts the task of definitively interpreting the meaning of statutes enforced by a federal agency. The Sixth Circuit's decision also addressed a lingering question: To what extent are lower courts bound by prior cases decided under the Chevron doctrine? In a 2005 decision, NCIA v. BrandXInternet Services, the Supreme Court had applied Chevron to uphold a prior FCC order classifying BIAS as an information service. As a result, litigants debated whether the Sixth Circuit was bound by this decision when interpreting the same statutory terms or whether it could approach the statutory interpretation question with a blank slate. The Sixth Circuit held it had a blank slate. It was not bound by BrandX because, while the interpretive question was the same, the particular agency order was new. This Sidebar provides context for the Sixth Circuit's decision by briefly describing the history of net neutrality regulation and how that history intersects with the now-defunct Chevron doctrine. The Sidebar next highlights key aspects of the Sixth Circuit's decision, and it concludes with associated considerations for Congress. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11264 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most