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New York - The FCC says the first lawsuits filed against the government's new internet traffic rules are "premature" and may be dismissed because they were filed too early.
The Federal Communications Commission's new rules on broadband service, known as "net neutrality", will prohibit providers such as Comcast and Verizon from slowing or blocking web traffic and from charging companies such as Netflix for special, faster access to customers.
The FCC is toughening its oversight of internet providers by classifying the internet as a "telecommunications service" rather than an "information service".
The United States Telecom Association, an industry group that represents companies including AT&T and Verizon, and Alamo Broadband, a small internet provider in Texas, both filed lawsuits to block the rules on Monday.
USTelecom said the new rules violate federal law, including the Constitution. Alamo Broadband, which filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, said the new rules regulating broadband are outside the FCC's authority.
Legal wrangling
The internet rules will take effect 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register if a court does not delay them. That publication hasn't happened yet.
USTelecom said it filed its suit with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia "as a precautionary move" in case it's legally necessary to file in a specific window following the FCC's release of the rules rather than after the rules are published. Alamo, too, said it filed its petition "in an abundance of caution".
But in 2010 Verizon sued over internet traffic rules before they were printed in the Federal Register, and a court dismissed it as premature. Verizon filed again in late 2011, and a federal appeals court overturned the FCC's rules in 2014.
In an emailed statement on Wednesday, the FCC said the two lawsuits filed Monday were "subject to dismissal".
