On March 2, 2022, WLF filed an amicus brief urging the Second Circuit to uphold a permanent injunction in an important preemption case affecting the internet. WLF joined TechFreedom in urging affirmance of the district court’s holding that the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) 2018 order excludes broadband from rate regulation and other forms of common-carrier regulation. In its brief, WLF contends that Congress, in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, declared that the internet should remain “unfettered” by state regulation. That law provides that a company offering interstate communications services may be regulated as a common carrier only to the extent that it “provides telecommunications services.” In its 2018 order, the FCC determined that broadband service is not a telecommunications service, but an “information service.” The States, therefore, may not regulate a broadband service as a common carrier.

Documents

WLF amicus brief