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from the about-headlines:-don't-use-no-double-negatives dept.
The Register has a story about a court ruling that possibly puts one nail in the coffin of the attempt by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to prevent states from banning municipal ISPs.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said on Wednesday [PDF] that the American regulator lacks the authority to overrule state laws that prevent cities from operating their own ISPs.
Last year, the watchdog declared it was unfair of North Carolina and Tennessee to block community-run broadband. Now an appeals court has said the FCC overstepped the mark by trying to undo that block with a preemptive order. In other words, in this case, the US states can't be pushed around and overruled by the communications regulator as it lacks the clear authority to do so.
"This preemption by the FCC of the allocation of power between a state and its subdivisions requires at least a clear statement in the authorizing federal legislation," the judges noted.
"The FCC relies upon S706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 for the authority to preempt in this case, but that statute falls far short of such a clear statement. The preemption order must accordingly be reversed."
We obviously have not seen the last of this, especially since the amateur lawyer in me believes the court decision was in error.
(Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Thursday August 11 2016, @07:42PM
Its not a chance we have to take, at that point it is something that will be forced upon us. The "powers that be" think they are so superior to the peons, but they can't get it through their thick skulls that the good of all spreads to themselves. Their greed has blinded "the system" and will result in the crash, where if they were truly smart then these problems would be addressed and the entire nation would prosper. Idiots, morons, troglodytes in top hats.
~Tilting at windmills~