MAP Files Suit Challenging FCC Internet Cable Ruling - Case to Decide Future of 'Open Access'
Posted: Monday March 25, 2002
The Media Access Project today filed a lawsuit on behalf of three citizens groups to challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s classification of Internet access delivered via cable modems to be an “information service.” If not reversed in court, the FCC’s March 14, 2002 action effectively freed cable operators from having to provide non-discriminatory “open access” to the public.
MAP’s clients are the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and the Center for Digital Democracy. The case was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
MAP President Andrew Jay Schwartzman emphasized that, in addition to the important impact that “open access” has on the right of customers to have a choice of internet service providers, the legal status of cable modem service has important First Amendment ramifications as well. He said:
“The Internet is a medium which the public uses to engage in constitutionally protected social, artistic and political discourse, as well as to receive information. Without non-discriminatory open access, cable operators retain the legal right to censor messages, to limit the size and nature of files which can be uploaded and downloaded and to favor content provided by their commercial ‘partners’ and ‘preferred vendors.’