New US internet traffic regulations to take effect from today

New US internet traffic regulations, known as net neutrality rules, will take effect on Friday following a federal appeals court's rejection of the telecommunications industry's plea to partly suspend the implementation while the issue is under litigation.

Yesterday's ruling comes as an early win for the Federal Communications Commission, whose assertion of a broader enforcement authority over internet service providers was being challenged in court by AT&T Inc and cable and wireless industry groups.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, issued a short statement saying the petitioners had not satisfied the stringent requirements which included proving irreparable harm from the rules' implementation.

According to commentators the decision, which also fast-tracked the lawsuit, was the first step in the legal fight over the rules and does not indicate how the court might finally rule on the merits of the industry's challenge.

FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the ruling came as a victory for consumers and innovators, adding, "Starting Friday, there will be a referee on the field to keep the Internet fast, fair and open."

Under the new rules, internet providers would be banned from blocking and slowing down access to websites and applications or striking deals with content companies for priority traffic delivery. 

Meanwhile, in a dissenting opinion piece on foxnews.com Robert M McDowell said the net regulation proponents originally sold their stand as necessary to keep the internet ''open and free'' by preventing internet service providers (ISPs), like cable or phone companies, from blocking or slowing web sites and apps.

The past decade, had however seen activists expand the goals of their movement to include economic regulation of the internet sector.

McDowell said, though US courts had earlier thrown out two sets of FCC rules, the regulate-the-Net movement came out with new pretexts and managed to convince the White House and FCC to regulate the net with a heavy-handed New Deal-era law, known as Title II.

The law would serve to only deter investment and innovation through its strong regulatory powers.

According to McDowell, nothing was ever broken that needed the "help" of Washington.

Ample rules already existed to prevent anti-competitive conduct by ISPs and consumers had protection all along.

The internet ecosphere flourished under Clinton-era deregulation and the more it ''migrated further away from government influence, the more it blossomed.''