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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: 4, Informative) by NotSanguine on Thursday August 11 2016, @06:22PM
Appeals court judge determines that cartel-like, monopolistic broadband providers are well within their rights to buy state law at the expense of the general public.
I'm all for State's rights and think the Feds should only step in when it is generally a constitutional matter. This usually comes down to the Feds keeping the States from restricting personal freedom of the people. So in this case, why should the states be allowed to restrict a municipality from providing internet access? If a rural town is not being served adequately by a large Telco, why not let them run their own fibre and connect up to a major hub? Oh right, corruption being used to protect a near monopoly.
To those who might disagree with Zz9zZ [soylentnews.org] I'd point out that municipalities are groups of "the people." Laws restricting the ability of "the people" to exercise their liberty (in this case, use their property as they see fit) is a slap in the face to decent, hard working Americans who want to decide for themselves.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr