[ad_1]
California Governor Jerry Brown today signed an Internet neutrality law, setting up a legal confrontation between his state and ISPs and the Federal Communications Commission.
The California Network Neutrality Bill, previously approved by the State Assembly and Senate despite protests from AT & T and cable lobbyists, imposes similar rules to those previously enforced by the FCC.
"Although the Trump administration is doing everything in its power to undermine our democracy, we will continue to do what is good for our California residents," said Scott Wiener today (D-San Francisco), Senator of the State of California, author of the bill on internet neutrality.
The legal authority of California to impose its own rules of net neutrality will almost certainly be tested in court. The FCC's recent repeal of the federal rules indicated that states were not allowed to impose net neutrality rules, and FCC President Ajit Pai called the California bill neutral on the issue of net neutrality. Net "illegality".
Specifically, California's new law prohibits ISPs from blocking or restricting legitimate traffic and charging royalties from websites or online services to provide or prioritize their traffic. to consumers. The law also bans cap exemptions from paying data (referred to as "zero rates") and indicates that Internet service providers can not attempt to evade network neutrality protections by slowing traffic to the points of the network. 39, interconnection of networks.
Net neutrality "is the basic notion that we must each decide where we go on the Internet, as opposed to a decision made by Internet Service Providers for us," said Mr Wiener. "It's also about ensuring a level playing field for ideas and for businesses trying to compete."
Pre-emption powers of the FCC will be tested
The FCC's attempt to preempt state laws will surely be cited by Internet service providers and broadband lobbies in any future lawsuit. A lobby group for AT & T and Verizon have already threatened to sue states that impose net neutrality rules.
But the power of the FCC to preempt state laws is not unlimited. The FCC had already tried to anticipate state laws limiting the growth of municipal broadband networks, but a federal court of appeal overruled this FCC decision in 2016.
The FCC's decision to remove net neutrality rules has also classified broadband as an information service rather than a telecommunication service, and Pai says states can not regulate information services.
But proponents of state rules say the FCC has abandoned regulatory authority over broadband and can not pre-empt national broadband laws.
"Since the FCC has declared that it no longer has the power to protect an open Internet, it is also true that the FCC does not have the legal authority to prevent states from protecting their residents and their economies," he said. said Wiener recently.
The FCC's repeal of the federal network's neutrality rules is also challenged in the context of a lawsuit filed by attorneys general, consumer advocacy groups and technology companies. This lawsuit aims to restore the rules of neutrality of the federal network, but also questions the pre-emption of the FCC on the laws of the States.
Source link
