U.S. FCC sees first bid to block net neutrality rules implementation

Pro-net neutrality Internet activists rally in the neighborhood where U.S. President Barack Obama attended a fundraiser in Los Angeles, California July 23, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn/Files

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has received the first request to delay the implementation of new Internet regulations from a communication architect who said the rules threaten his business, a filing disclosed on Wednesday showed. The FCC's new so-called net neutrality rules are slated to go into effect in June. While the agency is likely to reject the petition by Internet protocol services entrepreneur Daniel Berninger, such a filing at the FCC is a prerequisite for asking the court to pause implementation of the rules. Berninger, who filed the stay in his individual capacity and as founder of the Voice Communication Exchange Committee, asked the FCC to delay the plan while courts weigh the rules' fate, saying their implementation "threatens his livelihood." (Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Susan Heavey)