National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services
United States Supreme Court
545 U.S. 967 (2005)
The FCC classified broadband cable-modem internet service as an 'information service' (not subject to mandatory common-carrier rules) under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, even though it had previously classified DSL broadband service as a 'telecommunications service' subject to those rules; several entities challenged the cable-modem classification in the Ninth Circuit, which vacated the FCC's ruling in part because it conflicted with the circuit's own earlier holding in AT&T Corp. v. Portland that cable-modem service was a telecommunications service. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Whether a court's prior judicial construction of a statute controls over an administrative agency's construction otherwise entitled to Chevron deference only if the prior court decision holds that its construction follows from the unambiguous terms of the statute and thus leaves no room for agency discretion.