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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal appeals court is preparing to consider the Trump Administration's reversal of US net neutrality regulations, and the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is stepping up his defense.
PHOTO FILE: Federal Communications Commission President Ajit Pai speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, United States, February 23, 2018. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts / File Photo
FCC President Ajit Pai also criticized the California legislature this month for approving a state measure to ensure open internet access and said the new FCC transparency requirements could prevent Internet services »
The FCC voted 3-2 in December to reverse the Obama era rules that banned Internet service providers from blocking or limiting traffic or offering paid fast lines, also known as priority paid. The FCC's repeal of the 2015 neutrality rules was a victory for Internet service providers Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O), AT & T Inc (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N), whose practices have been subject to significant government control.
In August, 22 states and a coalition of business groups representing companies, including Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) urged a federal court of appeal to reinstate the rules.
The court has not yet scheduled pleadings.
The US Senate voted in May to reinstate net neutrality rules, but the move is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives and the White House is also opposed to it.
Under Donald Trump's presidency, the FCC has given PSIs new powers to review how Americans use the Internet, provided it reveals the changes. The new rules came into effect in June, but providers made no changes to access.
Pai said Thursday that "if an ISP started blocking legal content, everyone will know it. If an ISP starts limiting services based on the nature of the content, everyone will know. This is a powerful deterrent to bad behavior. "
Last December, the repeal of FCC network neutrality was aimed at preempting the rules of the Internet. Pai has criticized the California legislature for approval of net neutrality, but Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has yet to unveil his position and has until September 30 to decide to sign it.
Pai has described California's legislation as "a radical and anti-consumer bill on the Internet that would impose even greater restrictions than those adopted by the FCC in 2015".
California State Senator Scott Wiener, one of the sponsors of the bill, responded that Pai "has waived his responsibility to guarantee an open internet … Unlike the FCC of Pai, California is not not run by big business
On Thursday, Pai criticized high-tech companies, including Twitter and Google, for being "totally deregulated, which is fine, except that they also harassed the FCC and the federal government to heavily regulate rivals."
Report by David Shepardson; Editing by Dave Gregorio
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