Advocacy group drops net-neutrality suit

Free Press, a liberal advocacy group, dropped its lawsuit over the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) net-neutrality rules on Monday.

The group had argued that the commission's rules did not go far enough, and the goal of its lawsuit was to force the FCC to expand the scope of the regulations.

"We felt that there were better ways to accomplish our goals of promoting Internet freedom, and decided to direct our resources elsewhere in the continued campaign to preserve the open Internet," Matt Wood, Free Press policy director, said in an emailed statement.

The net-neutrality rules, which the commission adopted on a party-line vote in 2010, prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or slowing down access to legitimate websites.

Supporters of the rules say they preserve competition and consumer choice, but opponents argue they are an unnecessary burden on businesses and amount to government control of the Internet. 

The Free Press suit alleged that the rules arbitrarily provided less protection for wireless Internet access, such as through smartphones, than traditional wired Internet access. 

But the FCC is still fighting another front in the war to defend its rules. Verizon is suing to have the rules thrown out altogether, arguing the FCC stepped beyond its authority and enacted the rules without sufficient evidence of a problem.

Verizon filed a brief in federal court on Monday explaining its case against the regulations.

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