A federal court recently rejected a claim by telcos against the Net neutrality rules, so they will go into effect as expected. The Federal Communications Commission claimed that this court ruling was a huge victory for Internet consumers and innovators, and now there will be a referee on the field to keep the worldwide web fast, fair and open.

The FCC pointed out that blocking, throttling, pay-for-priority fast lanes and other efforts should not come between consumers and the worldwide web. In the meantime, the Net neutrality rules should also give ISPs the certainty and economic incentive to build fast and competitive broadband networks.

Nevertheless, it is clear that the fight for an open Internet is not over. For instance, the Voice Communication Exchange is ready to fight the order all the way to the Supreme Court. About 4 months ago, the Federal Communications Commission approved a 313-page order that allows to treat Internet access as a public utility. This wasn’t appreciated by the cable and telecommunication companies, who claimed that the order was an overreach by the authority and that Congress should set such rules.

So, quite soon a number of lawsuits were filed against the FCC, demanding to overturn the Net neutrality rules: one was launched by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, another by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the US Telecom and the American Cable Association. All of them were rejected by court.

FCC now claims it is pleased that the FCC’s Open Internet Order and strong rules will become effective soon, pointing out that a free and open worldwide web is vital to the democracy and competitive market.