In the case of Public Service Commission of Maryland v. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland, 1985, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company. The court held that a state regulation requiring telephone companies to obtain approval before discontinuing or changing any service was preempted by federal law under the Federal Communications Act (FCA). The FCA gave exclusive jurisdiction over interstate communication services to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), thereby preventing states from imposing their own regulations on these services. In this case, since it involved an aspect of interstate communications - specifically changes to customer premises equipment and inside wiring which were part and parcel with overall provision for telecommunications - it fell within FCC's purview rather than being subject to individual state laws or regulations.

In the dissenting opinion for Public Service Commission of Maryland v. Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland, Justice Brennan disagreed with the majority's view that a state utility commission's order requiring a telephone company to provide free access to its directory assistance records violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. He argued that this was not an issue of compelled speech but rather one concerning economic regulation. The phone company, in his view, did not have any expressive interest in withholding information from customers about their own listings or those of other subscribers. Furthermore, he contended that even if there were some minimal burden on expression here, it would be justified by substantial state interests in consumer protection and efficient use of communication services. Thus, Justice Brennan concluded that the order should have been upheld as constitutional.