Today, Public Knowledge filed a protective petition in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to urge the court to review the Federal Communications Commission’s rollback of net neutrality rules.
“Out of an abundance of caution, Public Knowledge has filed a protective petition in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asking it to review the FCC's recent rollback of net neutrality rules.
“While we believe that under the best reading of the rules the FCC's Order is not ripe for challenge until it is published in the Federal Register, in the past the judicial lottery -- which determines which appellate court will hear a challenge to an FCC action -- has been run based on premature petitions. Thus, to protect our rights, we have filed today.
“In other words, this is a purely procedural move, and we would not object if all early-filed petitions were held in abeyance by the FCC and the lottery is conducted based only on challenges filed after Federal Register publication. Of course, we will file to challenge the FCC at that time, as well.