With the Tuesday ruling by a three-judge panel in a federal appeals court in Washington, D. C., going in favor of the cable biggie Comcast, the fate of the ‘net neutrality’ or open Internet regulation proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) apparently becomes uncertain.

The ruling by appeals court came after Comcast had appealed to the court in defense of its actions pertaining to Internet traffic - the FCC had, in 2008, alleged that Comcast had illegally slowed the Bit Torrent traffic of its customers, and looked for sanctions against Comcast.

While the court’s Tuesday decision – which was largely being expected, given the tone of an earlier hearing some months back – did not specify that the FCC has no power to regulate the Internet; it does necessitate that the FCC support its actions, like the one against Comcast, with regard to explicit statutory authority.

In the 36-page ruling, Judge David Tatel of the US Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit wrote: “We must decide whether the Federal Communications Commission has authority to regulate an Internet service provider's network management practices.”

With the court having cleared Comcast’s name in the case, some consumer advocates are of the opinion that the FCC may also lose its power of implementing basic Internet openness principles. These advocates are in favor of new rules and laws to protect the Internet.