ALEXANDRIA, VA – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit broadly vindicated the 2017 Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rulemaking that repealed the Obama Administration’s 2015 Title II internet rules that had suffocated the internet with public utility-style regulation.  In response, Center for Individual Freedom President Jeffrey Mazzella released the following statement praising the D.C. Circuit’s decision.

"Today’s decision by the D.C. Circuit is a huge win for consumers and internet freedom. 

"In 2015, the Obama Administration FCC radically reversed two decades of bipartisan consensus by reclassifying internet service as a 'public utility' under laws enacted in 1934 to regulate old-fashioned copper-wire telephone service.  Since the 1990s, the internet had flourished and transformed our world like no innovation in history for a simple reason:  Administrations of both political parties over two decades, beginning with Clinton/Gore, wisely chose a 'light touch' regulatory approach to the internet.  There was no justification for that sudden reversal, and it was not based upon evidence, law or logic.  The internet obviously wasn't 'broken' or in need of heavy-handed federal regulatory 'fix.'  It was merely a scheme to extend government control over yet another sector of our economy.

"The negative consequences were immediate.  Private broadband investment declined for the first time ever outside of an economic recession. 

"On that basis, the FCC under new Chairman Ajit Pai restored the bipartisan, light-touch regulatory consensus that existed for more than two decades. 

"Despite the Chicken Little predictions by proponents of heavy-handed government regulation, the internet has once again flourished since the FCC reversed the Obama-era Title II rules.  Private sector investment in networks and average broadband speeds have both increased dramatically since the FCC’s 2017 order.

"CFIF applauds the Court of Appeals for unanimously recognizing the merits of the FCC’s 2017 correction, which benefits American consumers, our economy, private investment, innovation and employment."

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