Court to Hear Govt. 'Web Blocking' Case

The US Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument Aug 11 on a case that network neutrality activists says is about government asserting its ability to block Internet transmissions. A different Washington appeals court, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is scheduled to hear oral argument Dec. 4 in the challenge of Internet service provider's to rules the government imposed to prevent them from blocking or throttling. But the Federal Circuit, which specializes in intellectual property protection and related subject matter cases, could get to sink its teeth into the issue as well via Aug 11's argument, though the subject matter more closely resembles the debate over the government's role in preventing online piracy.

A spokesperson for Public Knowledge, which opposed the ITC decision, said the case "involves an effort to use a trade agency to implement the same troubling website-blocking tactics as SOPA and PIPA offered under the guise of trade regulation..." The case involves a challenge to an International Trade Commission decision in fall 2014 concluding that the ITC's authority to prevent the importation of infringing products extended to digital models, data and treatment plans for dental appliances.