Major Internet Providers Support FTC Against AT&T® Mobility

Reports from several reliable sources indicate that some of the major internet providers in the country recently aligned with the FCC and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against AT&T^® Mobility over the issues of the ability of FCC for enforcing provider privacy. This came in a recent amicus to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

They aligned forces said, “At first glance, amici’s position might seem surprising four leading corporations are arguing in favor of restoring the FTC’s authority to regulate their non-common carriage activities. On closer inspection, however, this position aligns with the companies’ desire to reinstate a predictable, uniform, and technology-neutral regulatory framework that will best serve consumers and businesses alike.”

The major internet providers who signed on to the brief include Verizon^®, Cox Communications^®, Comcast Corporation^®, and Charter Communications^®. These telecom companies did not rag on AT&T^® but they discussed the impacts such a decision will have on the wider regulatory landscape. They added, “Amici do not doubt AT&T’s commitment to the protection of its consumers, and they take no position on the merits of the FTC’s underlying allegations that AT&T’s practices were unfair or deceptive. But the important regulatory goals that are at stake in this case cannot be achieved if the en banc Court accepts the panel’s interpretation.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had earlier agreed for a full court review of their three-judge panel decision, which left the authority of the Federal Trade Commission for overseeing the edge provider’s protections of privacy in certain scenarios very much in doubt. We will be able to get more details about the full court review in a week or two.

In the amicus brief, Charter^® et al. said, “This result would leave significant “regulatory gaps” that other federal, state, or local legislative and regulatory bodies almost certainly would seek to fill. But it is crucial to amici and to their customers that the regulatory bodies with greatest expertise in the relevant subject areas continue to have the authority to enforce consumer protection laws. It is equally important that these laws be enforced consistently and uniformly across the American economy. The panel’s decision undercuts these important regulatory objectives and creates the risk that other, less expert federal, state, or local agencies will inconsistently fill perceived “regulatory gaps” in the FTC’s absence.”