USTelecom’s McCormick 'quite confident' of defeating network neutrality in court

The head of a major industry trade group says he is “quite confident” of defeating the government's net-neutrality regulations in court. “I’m quite confident that the court is going to say what is clear on the face of the statute: There is no authority for the [Federal Communications Commission] to be regulating the Internet,” said US Telecom Association President Walter McCormick. “Then, I hope that we can get Congress to expand the FCC’s authority to be able to address these issues that everybody agrees are important.”

USTelecom -- which represents companies such as AT&T and Verizon -- was one of the first industry groups to file a lawsuit against the FCC’s regulations. Several other major trade groups have sued as well, including AT&T, and the cases could take years to wind through the courts. “There’s complete consensus on the objectives,” McCormick said. However, under legislation last updated in 1996, “the FCC has no clear authority to regulate the Internet.” Instead, he and others have urged Congress to take the lead.