FTC Seeks 9th Circuit Rehearing in AT&T Case, Argues Ruling Creates 'Enforcement Gap'
The FTC appealed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals August decision giving companies that provide any common-carrier service (see 1608290032) "blanket immunity" from commission enforcement, the agency said, as expected (see 1609270033). The decision is "wrong and should be…
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corrected," argued the commission in a Thursday filing, seeking a rehearing en banc. A three-judge panel tossed out an FTC lawsuit accusing AT&T Mobility of inadequately informing customers of its data throttling program (see 1608300055, 1608310010 and 1609020021). The FTC said the ruling creates "an enforcement gap," leaving millions of consumers vulnerable to unfair or deceptive practices and unable to obtain redress. Companies -- including AT&T, Comcast, Google and even ExxonMobil -- provide both common-carrier and non-common-carrier services, the FTC said. "The panel's ruling calls into question the FTC's ability to protect consumers from unlawful practices by such companies in any of their lines of business," said the commission. It argued the FCC is limited in its enforcement authority and only the FTC has broad powers over consumer data privacy and security. The FTC also said the ruling conflicts with decisions by other circuit courts and that the 9th Circuit panel misread the FTC Act.