Consumers lose again in D.C. Circuit Court
Today, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to regulate Internet Service Providers. Reaction from Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Doug Collins was swift and to the point.
“Today’s Circuit Court ruling is a blow to internet freedom, and Congressional authority. Federal agencies should not be allowed to rewrite the law to suit political whims, and it is concerning to see the Court uphold this kind of power grab. This is another example of courts ceding authority to agencies, interpreting the law in a way that favors agency authority over the Separation of Powers. Rather than emboldening the FCC to continue its attempts to stifle innovation in competitive fairness under the false narrative of fairness, I will continue working to rein in the FCC, stimulate competition, and fight for American consumers.”
Congressman Collins has long engaged with Internet Service Provider Windstream to improve its customer service in rural areas of its service footprint. This issue coupled with the overreach of Washington bureaucrats and the judicial branch usurping legislative authorities continues to touch the nerves of 9th District voters. See Congressman Collins complete press release
About Author
IrishPat
Patrick Malone is a Business Advisor and Leadership Mentor headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. He co-hosts Mountain Daybreak and Mountain Mornings, weekday news programs, and hosts This Week in Blairsville a weekend program on WJUL/WJRB. He is a mentor in Union County High School, serves on his church council and writes a monthly column on leadership in the animal healthcare industry.
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Tyranny? How laughable; and so incredibly sad. Is there any policy in which you disagree with that can’t be described using fear and/or anger? Any? I doubt it.
Since this minor attempt at oversight of a billion dollar industry is sure to literally rip your God-given freedom from your soul, maybe go back to using the phone book and a really good thesaurus. That is til Obama comes after the book-binders…then…Apocalypse!
Zounds! The crumbling of civilization by the checks and balances inherent in our three branch system of government! The power to enact or ignore laws based on political whims must never fall into the hands of Bureaucrats, for that is the domain of the ‘Majority’, but only when WE are the Majority! (Cue thunder)
The following may be attributed to Gene Kimmelman, President and CEO of Public Knowledge. Public Knowledge supports an Open Internet, which is the idea that no Internet Service Provider should be able to block or throttle your connection to control your online experience.:
“Today, the Court of Appeals has affirmed the FCC’s authority to protect consumers and innovation on the internet. This decision should lay to rest what has become a needlessly contentious issue. Now consumers will be assured the right to full access to the internet without interference from gatekeepers. We hope that rather than refight old battles, Congress and the industry will turn toward the problem of ensuring that all Americans have access to broadband that is ‘fast, fair and open.’”
The court decision marks a victory for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who led the agency’s Democratic majority in approving the rules in February 2015 over the objections of the agency’s two GOP commissioners. The rules apply utility-style regulation originally written for telephone companies to both land-based and wireless Internet services.
Wheeler on Tuesday celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory for consumers and innovators who deserve unfettered access to the entire web.” “It ensures the internet remains a platform for unparalleled innovation, free expression and economic growth,” the FCC chairman said in a statement. “After a decade of debate and legal battles, today’s ruling affirms the Commission’s ability to enforce the strongest possible internet protections — both on fixed and mobile networks — that will ensure the internet remains open, now and in the future.”
Read more about how net neutrality encourages competition, innovation and protects consumers from price gouging, unfair restrictions, and unequal access.
https://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/net-neutrality
This is one of the most willfully dishonest posts I have ever read on this site or it’s predecessor.
The 2nd to the last sentence is especially weaselly. That ruling had nothing to do with improving rural access.
How is Collins going to “fight for consumers” by taking the position of the telecoms and their lobbyists? What evidence exists that 9th district voters care ANYTHING about net neutrality? I doubt a super-majority of voters in any district in Georgia could give a logical, cogent rebuttal to the contested FCC’s net neutrality rules.
This is one of those issues that makes me sad for the GOP. I don’t blame the author of this post necessarily, but Doug Collins definitely knows better.
I sometimes wish that this site would revert back to what Peach Pundit used to be….and then I read posts like this.
Geees! Charlie, where did you find this Clown?
So Rep. Collins has had a problem with Windstream…why is that congressman? How about no competition. This nonsense of how Net Neutrality will stifle investment. Has he been to Atlanta lately? Comcast is so busy trying to upgrade their lines (thats what is called investment if you dont know) because they crap their pants at the thought of Google Fiber. I had a technician tell me as much.
The funniest and most ironic part of the whole thing is because Verizon had a tantrum and sued to block the last set of MUCH weaker loophole ridden rules, they get classified under title 2 this time…let me here it Verizon…WHAAAAAAH
No kidding. It is sad how so many large companies want to rig the “free market” and then get their professional water-carriers to bray at their constituents about freedom and choice.
I can’t believe how damned ignorant people can be. I wouldn’t hire most congressman in our state to clean my house.
yep, this ^ is what courts do most all the time- defer to the authority that Congress created. this post also demonstrates a serious misunderstanding of basic economics and markets. and it is just common sense that internet service is a communications utility. i am guessing, though, that this rule will continue to generate lots of oppositional lobbying activity and dollars, bc capitalism.
The biggest factor in the courts’ role in agency rulemaking:
“Chevron Deference”
One of the most important principals in administrative law, established by the Supreme Court in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). The case raised the issue of how courts should treat agency interpretations of statutes that mandated that agency to take some action. The Supreme Court held that courts should defer to agency interpretations of such statutes unless they are unreasonable.
“Consumers lose again in D.C. Circuit Court”, proof that Doublespeak is a second language for some.
Collins is in a tizzy because communications law and regulation are being applied to modern communications, yet he’ll never squawk about casting aside the leading militia phrase of the second amendment and its application to the arms of that day, muskets and flintlocks, is now being applied to semi-automatic pistols and assault rifles.