98
select, access, and use broadband Internet access service or
the lawful Internet content, applications, services, or devices
of their choice, or (ii) edge providers’ ability to make lawful
content, applications, services, or devices available to end
users.” 2015 Open Internet Order, 30 FCC Rcd. at 5660
¶ 136. The Commission adopted the General Conduct Rule
based on a determination that the three bright-line rules—
barring blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—were, on
their own, insufficient “to protect the open nature of the
Internet.” Id. at 5659–60 ¶¶ 135–36. Because “there may
exist other current or future practices that cause the type of
harms [the] rules are intended to address,” the Commission
thought it “necessary” to establish a more general, nounreasonable interference/disadvantage standard. Id. The
standard is designed to be flexible so as to address unforeseen
practices and prevent circumvention of the bright-line rules.
The Commission will evaluate conduct under the General
Conduct Rule on a case-by-case basis, taking into account a
“non-exhaustive” list of seven factors. Id. at 5661 ¶ 138.
Before examining the merits of the vagueness challenge,
we first address US Telecom’s argument that the NPRM
provided inadequate notice that the Commission would issue
a General Conduct Rule of this kind.
Although the
Commission did not ultimately adopt the “commercially
reasonable” standard proposed in the NPRM, the Commission
specifically sought “comment on whether [it] should adopt a
different rule to govern broadband providers’ practices to
protect and promote Internet openness.” NPRM, 29 FCC
Rcd. at 5604 ¶ 121. The NPRM further asked: “How can the
Commission ensure that the rule it adopts sufficiently protects
against harms to the open Internet, including broadband
providers’ incentives to disadvantage edge providers or
classes of edge providers in ways that would harm Internet
openness? Should the Commission adopt a rule that prohibits
Sélectionner le paragraphe cible3
Se connecter à un paragraphe
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Ajouter à la table des matières