The FCC has “ample authority” to oversee ISPs...

The FCC has “ample authority” to oversee ISPs under current law, said Phoenix Center President Lawrence Spiwak in a research paper being released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1pe75tG). Three recent cases out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit -- Comcast v. FCC, Cellco Partnership v. FCC and Verizon v. FCC -- show that broadband ISPs are still subject to direct jurisdiction under Communications Act titles II, III and VI, the paper said. “The FCC’s decision to classify broadband Internet access as a Title I information service does not a fortiori mean that the Commission has abdicated its authority over Broadband Service Providers altogether.” The cases hold that the commission’s ancillary jurisdiction over broadband ISPs “remains alive and well,” as long as the agency “ties the use of that jurisdiction” to specific delegation of authority under Title II, III or VI, the paper said. With Verizon v. FCC, the commission has “an additional hook for ancillary authority under Section 706,” the paper said. “The real question -- as always -- is whether the agency will exercise its authority wisely.”