CINCINNATI—A coalition of open internet and digital rights organizations filed an en banc petition on Tuesday asking the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals for a ruling by the entire bench of the court to reinstate the Federal Communications Commission net neutrality rules adopted in 2024.
En banc is a term that refers to a legal procedure where all judges of the court, as opposed to a select panel of judges, offer an opinion on a particular case.
The petition was filed by Free Press, the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, New America’s Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge. The organizations are asking the Sixth Circuit to revisit its recent court decision striking down the net neutrality rules, which the Trump administration’s FCC will almost certainly not do.
Right-wing technology attorney and Project 2025 architect Brendan Carr, the new chair of the FCC, led the fight against the Biden-era commission, which was working to reinstate the Obama administration’s marquee digital policy. During Trump’s first tenure, former FCC chair Ajit Pai killed the net neutrality and common carry rules.
Carr was general counsel for the FCC and served as an aide for Pai while he was in office.
“If left alone, the Trump FCC will have license to abdicate its responsibility to protect internet users,” said Free Press legal director Yanni Chen. “That’s why Free Press and allies are asking the entire 6th Circuit to reexamine the decision, even if the Carr-led FCC won’t.”
John Bergmayer, the legal director at Public Knowledge, added, “[The] Sixth Circuit panel shoehorned its policy preferences into the law in a slapdash and inconsistent opinion that, if left unchallenged, will eliminate the ability of future regulators to promote universal, affordable, competitive broadband access and could even threaten the openness of the telephone network itself.”
Adult entertainment industry stakeholders have previously campaigned against Pai’s repeal of net neutrality, including through the advocacy of trade group the Free Speech Coalition.
In a previous report, AVN discussed how streaming companies rely on net neutrality to ensure equitable delivery of video and audio content to their customers.
Two tech industry trade organizations representing digitally-native companies filed an amicus brief. The groups are Engine Advocacy and INCOMPAS.
Engine Advocacy represents startup companies, while INCOPMAS represents companies like Amazon, Dish Network, Meta Platforms, Google and Microsoft.
