The court also rejected legal arguments from opponents that the rules should not apply to mobile phone web use or that they violated the constitutional free-speech rights of Internet service providers. Internet service providers have expressed growing frustration at proposed FCC regulatory mandates, including new privacy rules and a proposal to open up pay-TV set top boxes to new competitors.But the fight is not over.The rules prohibited broadband providers from giving or selling access to speedy Internet, essentially a “fast lane” on the web’s information superhighway, to certain Internet services over others.”South Dakota Repub-lican John Thune, who chairs the Senate Comme-rce Committee, said the decision upholds FCC restrictions “designed for the monopoly-telephone era”.  

The Internet service providers that sued to block the regulations said they would appeal either to the full appellate court or to the Supreme Court, and telecommunications industry groups said they would redouble efforts to get Congress to limit the FCC’s authority. He said the Repub-lican-led Congress needs to step in to overturn a decision that results in “a highly political agency micro-managing the Internet ecosystem. Verizon said it backs an open Internet but urged Congress to approve “reasonable, bipartisan legislation that would provide a stable framework for continued investment and innovation.The ruling boosted the FCC in its bid to complete action on major Internet privacy rules applying to Internet providers before Wholesale throttle cable for lawn mower the end of the year.“Today’s ruling is a victory for the open, fair and free Internet as we know it today — one that remains open to innovation and economic growth, without service providers serving as paid gatekeepers,”  

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said the “ruling is a victory for consumers and innovators who deserve unfettered access to the entire web, and it ensures the Internet remains a platform for unparalleled innovation, free expression and economic growth”.A three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a 2-1 decision, backed the Federal Communications Commission’s so-called net neutrality rules put in place in 2015 to make Internet service providers treat all Internet traffic equally.A US appeals court upheld the Obama administration’s landmark rules barring Internet service providers from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content on Tuesday, dealing a blow to big cable and mobile phone companies.In siding with the FCC, the court treated the Internet like a public utility and opened the door to further government  

Internet regulations.But the US chamber of commerce business group said the FCC is “essentially transforming an entire industry, in this case the Internet, from an innovative, lightly regulated enterprise that made huge investments into this country, into a public utility subject to the whims of regulators.” Net neutrality is a major issue for broadband providers like Verizon Communications Inc, Comcast Corp and AT&T, which fear the rules may make it harder to manage Internet traffic and make investment to provide additional capacity less likely.” While the ruling was critical for businesses, consumers likely will not notice any difference because the rules have been in effect since June 2015.”The decision was a victory for content providers like Netflix and Yelp Inc, which worried that access to customers could be limited without net neutrality.Netflix Inc and Twitter  

Inc were among the companies that praised the ruling, while Google, part of Alphabet Inc, and others have backed the rules. — Reuters.The ruling was a big victory for US President Barack Obama, a strong advocate of net neutrality rules.The telecommunications industry trade association US telecom, which led the legal challenge, said the court failed to recognise “the significant legal failings” of the FCC rules that “we believe will replace a consumer-driven Internet with a government-run Internet, threatening innovation and investment in years to come.Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Democrats in Congress also lauded the ruling.Republican FCC commissioner Michael O’Rielly said, “We all will rue the day the commission was confirmed to have nearly unmitigated power over the Internet