Cable Ruling Boosts FCC Authority to Use 'Deregulatory Rebuttable Presumptions,' FSF Says
FCC ability to use "deregulatory rebuttable presumptions" was bolstered in court recently, said Free State Foundation President Randolph May and Senior Fellow Seth Cooper Thursday. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruling upheld commission authority to adopt…
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rebuttable presumptions, they wrote, citing NATOA v. FCC, which affirmed a 2015 order declaring the cable industry effectively competitive (see 1707070029). They said the court's reasoning strengthened the agency's authority for using rebuttable presumptions more broadly to roll back unnecessary regulation: "This would include oversight of Internet service providers' practices if the Commission decides to retain any circumscribed regulatory authority over Internet providers in the Restoring Internet Freedom rulemaking." They said the ruling supports FSF "reform proposals" to utilize telecom "deregulatory tools" of Communications Act sections 10 and 11 mandating forbearance use and periodic regulatory reviews.