By Mike Zapler and Mike Swift

Intervening in a high-stakes battle over regulation of Web traffic, a U.S. appeals court issued a ruling Tuesday that sharply undermines the federal government’s ability to enforce its vision of a free Internet.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Federal Communications Commission failed to establish its legal authority to take action in 2008 against Comcast for blocking customers who were consuming large amounts of bandwidth. The court essentially rejected the argument of the FCC that it had the power to regulate Internet service providers — a ruling that also throws into doubt whether it has the power to implement much of its recently unveiled national broadband plan.

The decision deals a direct blow to proponents of so-called net neutrality rules, which require Internet service providers like Comcast to treat all Internet traffic equally. Without such rules, critics fear that Internet service providers could play favorites on their networks, blocking or charging for video or other content that competes with their own offerings, or offering lower speeds for those outside services.

Continue reading FCC Lacks Authority To Enforce Net Neutrality, Appeals Court Says