Ajit Pai, FCC boss, denounces "illegal" net neutrality measure in California

The chief of the Federal Communications Commission has denounced California's new measure to protect net neutrality as "illegal" action by the nanny state. A California lawmaker retorted that the Trump administration

The fight to maintain a level playing field on the Internet is the latest against the California Trump administration, which has enough economic weight to mitigate the effects of last year's FCC vote on network neutrality.

California lawmakers passed last month a measure demanding net neutrality for companies operating in the state. It will be the law once Governor Jerry Brown has signed it, what he should do. The measure would prohibit ISPs from blocking legal content or increasing fees for "expedited" delivery.

The FCC voted last year to end network neutrality nationally in an unpopular consumer movement. This action benefits large telecommunications companies by effectively strangling less profitable content providers that could not afford the higher costs of content blocking and expedited processing.

FCC President Ajit Pai called the California measure "illegal" and "a risk to the rest of the country". He said he would take steps to block the law. "Internet traffic does not recognize the lines of state; it follows that only the federal government can establish a regulatory policy in this area, "he told the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center on Friday.

But the state of California, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the author of the measure, said the state should take steps to protect consumers because Pai had "withdrawn from his responsibility to guarantee an open Internet. Unlike Pai's FCC, California is not managed by major telecommunications and cable companies, "said Wiener.

He also criticized the "crony capitalism" of the Trump administration. California "understands exactly what is needed to foster an open innovation economy," he added.

Once the measure becomes law, the next confrontation will likely take place in the courts.

A group of 22 attorneys general and the District of Columbia, representing more than half of the country's population, last month called on a US appeals court to reinstate the neutrality rules of the Obama administration. They argued that the FCC's decision is detrimental to consumers and could be detrimental to public safety.