US Court Smacks Conservative-Run FCC Over War Against Net Neutrality

Ever since Ajit Pai was appointed as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he has been waging a war against the Net Neutrality rules imposed by the previous administration’s FCC. Pai wants to gut Net Neutrality in line with the Trump presidency’s and the Conservative Party’s goals. The DC Court of Appeals apparently disagrees with this move and has refused to have a rehearing on the issue.

The court’s decision has hampered the efforts by the current FCC to make the internet a feeding ground for internet carriers but only for a moment. The commission still has the Supreme Court route as a last-ditch effort to push its Conservative agenda through, The Washington Post reports.

On that note, supporters of Net Neutrality still have a reason to celebrate this decision as a victory. It represents the elements within the US judiciary system that will still defend the right to a free internet. Daniel Berninger is one such supporter, as he showed when he sued the FCC back in 2015.

“I'm super excited,” Daniel Berninger said, referring to the Court of Appeals’ refusal of a rehearing. “When we get to the Supreme Court, we want to be saying [to a largely conservative bench] this is a severe case of government overreach.”

The decision wasn’t unanimous, however, as three judges voted in favor of rehearing the case while two other judges decided to dissent. In his statement, Pai expressed his displeasure at the court’s decision while rather spitefully pointing out that the decision should ultimately fall on the shoulders of the FCC, Bloomberg reports.

If ever the commission decides to take up the case to the highest court in the US, experts are saying that it’s going to be a fruitless effort. Most of them assert that the Supreme Court is not likely to take the case, CNET reports. Considering just how unpredictable the political scene in the US has been since Trump’s victory, however, nothing is guaranteed.