As reported by numerous media outlets (for examples, see here and here) as well as the Federal Communications Commission itself, a federal court denied the request to block the FCC from enforcing its network neutrality rules pending the outcome of the cases filed to overturn them. As a result, the rules, which the FCC approved in February and released in March, took effect on Friday, June 12, 2015.
Given that the rules replace and expand on the FCC’s 2010 rules, which were overturned in January 2014, consumers of fixed-line Internet access services will likely not experience any noticeable changes from the 2015 rules taking effect. Such services evolved in an environment of network neutrality, and the new rules essentially ensure that will continue. In the coming months, though, users of mobile Internet access services may see changes as the same rules that apply to their home Internet connections are applied fully to mobile Internet access for the first time. This means, for example, that mobile providers will not be able to exert the same control over subscriber access to online applications and services as they did previously (as discussed here).
While the court ruled against the request to stay enforcement of the rules, the legal challenges to the FCC’s authority to impose them won’t be resolved for some time. The court agreed with the request of both the FCC and its opponents to expedite consideration of the cases seeking to overturn the FCC’s reclassification of Internet service as a telecommunications service, which provides the legal authority under which the FCC established its new rules. Expediting the process, however, means that the court will probably start adjudicating the issue in December. Any ruling likely won’t emerge until several months later at the earliest, and then the losing party will almost certainly appeal.
EDUCAUSE joined with a broad coalition of higher education and library groups to support the reinstatement of network neutrality protections. Our goal was to ensure that higher education institutions and libraries would not find access to their content and services negatively impacted by steps Internet service providers might take to extract increased revenue from content and services providers, such as paid prioritization. The coalition has concluded that the FCC’s current network neutrality protections meet that goal. The rejection of the request to stay enforcement of the rules is just another step in the ongoing process of ensuring network neutrality, though. EDUCAUSE will continue to monitor legal and legislative challenges to the rules for developments of concern to the higher education community.