The FCC's rules give mobile broadband providers more power to dictate what users can do on the Internet, Bowen said. "Granting more power to wireless network owners reduces mobile access to a second-class service, discriminates against low-income users who rely on mobile devices, and disadvantages rural areas where wireless is often the only broadband access available," he said.

The FCC has argued that the net neutrality rules give providers certainty about the rules of the road. The agency will "vigorously oppose" any efforts to overturn the rules, the agency said in a statement this week. The FCC published the net neutrality rules in the Federal Register on Sept. 23, with publication opening the door for groups to file lawsuits.

The FCC is likely to face additional lawsuits from other ISPs that want to overturn the rules completely. Earlier this year, Verizon Communications and MetroPCS filed challenges to the rules, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the lawsuits because the companies filed before the rules were published in the Federal Register. Verizon, which has said it plans to refile a lawsuit, has argued that the FCC does not have the authority to regulate broadband.

MAIN is represented by the Media Access Project, a public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C.

The IDG News Service