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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  TTY  202/  418-  2555  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT  October  6,  2003  David  Fiske  202-  418-  0513 
 Statement  of  FCC  Chairman  Michael  Powell  On  9th  Circuit  Cable  Modem  Decision 
 I  am  disappointed  that  the  Court  felt  that  it  was  bound  by  its  prior  decision  and  did  not  address  the  merits  of  the  Commission's  classification. 
 Unfortunately,  as  noted  by  Judge  O'Scannlain,  the  ruling  "effectively  stops  a  vitally  important  policy  debate  in  its  tracks,"  producing  "a  strange  result"  which  will  throw  a  monkey 
 wrench  into  the  FCC's  efforts  to  develop  a  vitally  important  national  broadband  policy. 
 I  will  direct  the  FCC's  General  Counsel  to  appeal. 
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