A federal appeals court stayed two FCC rulings restricting teleco...
A federal appeals court stayed two FCC rulings restricting telecom relay service providers from using TRS fund money to encourage customers to take part in lobbying. Relay provider Sorenson asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court in Denver to…
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stay the rules, which the company said prevented it from telling deaf consumers about matters relevant to them in Congress and at the FCC (CD July 16 p8). Sorenson said the rules violated the First Amendment, exceeded FCC authority and were “arbitrary and capricious.” Agency “ability to regulate TRS providers and their compensation rate is likely not the same as the ability to regulate how the TRS providers use the compensation they receive,” the 10th Circuit said. “The FCC has not explained how certain uses of received compensation affect efficiency more than other uses. . . . Moreover, the FCC has not indicated how any TRS provider’s lobbying effort funded with received compensation diminished TRS efficiency.” Sorenson “has a substantial likelihood of prevailing on at least one First Amendment claim,” the court said.