In ‘Disparate Impact’ Decision, Court Recognizes FCC Is Not a Free-Floating Civil Rights Enforcer, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—Following the Eighth Circuit’s decision holding that the Federal Communications Commission “exceeded its statutory authority in adopting a final rule authorizing the imposition of disparate impact liability,” the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Joe Kane, ITIF’s director of broadband and spectrum policy:

The court’s decision puts the FCC back within the boundaries Congress made for it. The court recognized that Congress did not authorize the FCC to become a free-floating civil rights enforcer. Consumers will benefit from a regime that targets unlawful disparate treatment, rather than one that allows the FCC to micromanage every network deployment or upgrade.

For more on this case, see ITIF’s amicus brief:

• Brief of the International Center for Law & Economics and The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners and Setting Aside the Commission’s Order