Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Find: North Carolina sues FCC for right to block municipal broadband



North Carolina sues FCC for right to block municipal broadband
// Ars Technica

North Carolina has sued the Federal Communications Commission so it can continue enforcing a state law that prevents municipal broadband networks from expanding.

Three months ago, the FCC preempted such laws in both North Carolina and Tennessee. Tennessee filed a lawsuit to save its municipal broadband restrictions in March, and North Carolina has now done the same in a petition filed last week to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

"Despite recognition that the State of North Carolina creates and retains control over municipal governments, the FCC unlawfully inserted itself between the State and the State’s political subdivisions," North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper wrote to the court. Cooper claimed the FCC's action violates the US Constitution; exceeds the commission's authority; "is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act; and is otherwise contrary to law."

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