Government has advantage in net-neutrality court face-off

[Commentary] In a federal court face-off against the nation’s biggest broadband providers, US government lawyers upholding network neutrality rules may enjoy a slight advantage -- two of the three judges ruling on the case have shown indications of being sympathetic to the government’s position.

David Tatel, Sri Srinivasan and Stephen Williams, judges for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, will hear oral arguments Dec. 4 on lawsuits filed against the Federal Communications Commission over its Open Internet Order, or net neutrality rules. The three-judge panel reviewing the legality of the rules has a decidedly liberal tilt that bodes well for the FCC, those following the case said. Judge Tatel, whom President Bill Clinton appointed in 1994, is the most notable. He was one of three judges that ruled in 2014 that parts of the FCC’s previous net neutrality rules passed in 2010 were unlawful because the agency lacked the authority to regulate the providers if they weren’t classified as a common carrier such as a phone company. Judge Tatel wrote the opinion in that case and some legal scholars believed he gave the FCC a roadmap for writing rules that would pass legal scrutiny.