Light Reaction to 9th Circuit Net Neutrality Case Transfer to DC Circuit; PRA Review Begins

benefit to all parties is that the DC Circuit judges are better equipped than any other circuit to understand and manage case like this. Beyond that, as always, in the end it is a crapshoot," emailed Andrew Schwartzman, who's representing the Benton Foundation, one of the petitioners that challenged the FCC's "internet freedom" order in the D.C. Circuit. "The transfer is not surprising, given the DC Circuit’s past experience in these cases specifically and with FCC-related rule challenges generally," emailed Enrique Armijo, academic dean and associate professor of Elon University School of Law. "I think D.C. Circuit makes the most sense, and hopefully we can get a quick decision," emailed Doug Brake, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation telecom policy director. "The big lines of this doctrine are already pretty clear: the FCC gets wide deference to interpret this ambiguous statute. It’s a little disappointing we can’t really expect any bombshells out of this case -- I wish we could fast-forward to serious discussions on [Capitol] Hill." Both Armijo and Brake had predicted a transfer, while some said they believed a transfer would speed court review but doubted it would tilt the outcome either way (see 1803090051). Others didn't comment Wednesday, including the FCC and counsel for Mozilla, which sought the transfer and is the lead petitioner in the D.C. Circuit. Meanwhile, comments are due April 27 at the Office of Management and Budget and FCC on broadband ISP disclosure duties under the Paperwork Reduction Act, said a notice in the Federal Register Wednesday. The "internet freedom" order's repeal of Title II net neutrality regulation under the Communications Act won't take effect until after ISP information-collection requirements in a transparency rule are finalized. Once OMB approves, the FCC will publish a final FR notice on the effective date of the order.