WASHINGTON�The FCC has already been sued by a consortium of broadband service providers that claim that the Commission�s recently approved rules regarding the Internet exceed its authority.
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Members of the broadband trade group include the largest U.S. telephone companies, AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc.
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The FCC has asserted itself, putting regulation of the Internet under Title ll rules, very much like the regulation it applies to Telco service providers.� The vote in favor of the new rules happened Feb. 26.�
The lawsuits, filed in Washington and New Orleans, begin what is expected to be a litigation onslaught from companies claiming the new rules meant to keep the Internet open give government too much power, according toBloomberg.com. President of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association trade group, and former FCC Chairman Michael Powell told lawmakers in January the FCC�s path carried a possibility of three to five years of litigation. Meredith Attwell Baker, president of CTIA-The Wireless Association, said the mobile industry would �have no choice but to look to the courts� after passage of FCC rules affecting their service.�
