{"id":35720,"date":"2023-03-24T15:54:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=35720"},"modified":"2023-03-24T15:55:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:55:11","slug":"public-knowledge-applauds-fifth-u-s-circuit-court-decision-affirming-constitutionality-of-fccs-universal-service-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-applauds-fifth-u-s-circuit-court-decision-affirming-constitutionality-of-fccs-universal-service-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Applauds Fifth U.S. Circuit Court Decision Affirming Constitutionality of FCC\u2019s Universal Service Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today<em>,<\/em> the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that the universal service fund and that the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/general\/universal-service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">actions<\/a> in advancing our nation\u2019s universal service goals are constitutional.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Knowledge filed an <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/public-knowledge-amicus-brief-in-consumers-research-v-fcc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amicus brief<\/a> in the case, <em>Consumers\u2019 Research v. FCC<\/em>, identifying the flaws in the petitioners arguments, arguing that, in fact, Congress had offered the FCC \u201cintelligible principles\u201d for advancing the universal service objectives and that the FCC\u2019s agent, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), was properly delegated authority to oversee the ministerial responsibilities of administering the USF programs. We commend the court for recognizing the crucial role the universal service fund plays in connecting everyone to the essential communications service of our time and the FCC\u2019s authority to advance that mission.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Greg Guice, Director of Government Affairs at Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToday, the Fifth Circuit denied the petition filed by Consumers\u2019 Research that challenged the constitutionality of the universal service fund. In rejecting the petitioner\u2019s specious arguments, the Fifth Circuit has once again affirmed the importance of our nation\u2019s universal service mission and the FCC\u2019s obligation to ensure it is achieved by placing the program on a sound financial footing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are pleased that the Fifth Circuit has agreed with our and others\u2019 briefs of the important role of this critical program to advance access to broadband for all people. We hope the Sixth and Eleventh Circuit take notice of this opinion and rule consistently. We look forward to continuing to work with the Commission to preserve and advance universal service.\u201d<br><br>You may view our <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/public-knowledge-amicus-brief-in-consumers-research-v-fcc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amicus brief<\/a> for our full arguments in this case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirms universal service fund and the FCC&#8217;s actions to connect us all are constitutional.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":25479,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-35720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-broadband-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - 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