Highlights Of The 2015 Open Internet Order

Five years ago, the FCC adopted the Preserving the Open Internet Report and Order ("2010 Open Internet Order") which prohibited blocking and discrimination and imposed disclosure requirements for fixed Internet providers.¹ Just over a year ago, the D.C. Circuit Court in Verizon v. FCC struck down the blocking and antidiscrimination provisions and upheld the disclosure requirements.²The gravamen of the Verizon decision was that the FCC sought to impose common carrier requirements on Internet providers who had previously been found to be information services providers and not telecommunication services providers.³

On April 13, 2015, the Commission published new rules in the Federal Register implementing its Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet Report and Order ("2015 Open Internet Order").⁴ The 2015 Open Internet Order seeks to address the concerns raised by Verizon by re-classifying Internet providers as subject to common carrier provisions of Title II of the