O’Rielly Sides With Industry Net Neutrality Challenge

Former FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly filed an amicus brief Friday (docket 24-7000) in support of industry groups in their challenge of the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2408200052). O'Rielly told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that broadband is an information service and Title II regulations contravene the Telecom Act of 1996. "Broadband offers users the capability to generate, store, transform, process, retrieve, utilize, and make available information," O'Rielly said, noting those are "precisely the functional capabilities that define an information service." He urged the court to grant the industry groups' petition for review and vacate the order.