The Trump administration is suing California to cancel its new law on internet neutrality

The Trump administration announced on Sunday that it would sue California to block what some experts have described as the most stringent law on net neutrality ever enacted in the United States, establishing a high-stakes legal confrontation on the future of the Internet.

California on Sunday became the largest state to adopt its own rules requiring Internet service providers such as AT & T, Comcast and Verizon to treat all web traffic on an equal footing. Golden State lawmakers took the initiative to draft their law after the Federal Communications Commission rescinded the nationwide protection measures last year, citing the regulatory burden they had caused the industry. telecommunications.

Just hours after the adoption of the California proposal, senior Justice Department officials told the Washington Post they would sue the state on the grounds that the federal government, not the state leaders, had the exclusive power to regulate net neutrality. DOJ officials pointed out that Congress had given the FCC such authority that not all 50 states would attempt to write their own, potentially contradictory, rules governing the Web.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions' decision opens a new legal battleground between the federal government and California, which the DOJ has already sued for attempting to circumvent the Trump administration's immigration policies. and climate change. "The Department of Justice should not have to spend precious time and resources to bring this action today, but we have a duty to defend the prerogatives of the federal government and protect our constitutional order," he said. Sessions in a statement.

In this case, the future of Internet regulation is at stake in a political war between telecommunications service providers such as Verizon to high-tech companies, especially smaller ones like the Etsy craft site. and the Vimeo streaming service. While other states are considering adopting their own Internet neutrality laws, the GM may want to try [California] to the Supreme Court if that goes that far, "said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

The upcoming legal clashes could fuel partisan tensions just weeks before voters vote in a deeply contested mid-term election.

Encouraged by online activists, liberal organizers and tech start-ups, California lawmakers began developing their own net neutrality rules earlier this year. The proposal passed by the legislature in September – which the governor's office authorized to become law on Sunday – bans ISPs from blocking access to sites and services, slowing down Internet connections or charging companies faster access to their movies, music or other content. In particular, small Web companies are concerned that they do not have the resources to pay for the telecommunications giants to ensure the visibility of their content. The law also prohibits operators from exempting applications from counting each month in consumer data, if this could be detrimental to businesses, especially start-ups.

California's law is even tougher than the approach adopted in 2015, when President Obama was in power – which was dropped after Republicans took over the leadership of the FCC two years later. For Ajit Pai, the current Republican president of the FCC, these measures to protect network neutrality have proven cumbersome and have slowed down the investment of the telecommunications industry in improving their broadband networks to the countrywide. "I think in the end it will mean better, faster, cheaper Internet access and more competition," Pai told La Poste when the law was repealed in June.

But the FCC's efforts immediately put Washington on a collision course with the states. To start with, more than 20 states have filed suit against the FCC, claiming that it has acted arbitrarily by repealing the rules of neutrality of the internet. Their efforts have been supported by companies such as Mozilla and professional associations representing technology giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, as well as consumer groups such as Free Press and Public Knowledge.

Many governors and legislatures have also attempted to develop policies to preserve the neutrality of the Internet within their borders, even though the decision to repeal the FCC explicitly prohibited states from writing their own laws on the Internet. Open Internet. This prompted the Department of Justice to take legal action in a federal court in Sacramento, which is seeking a preliminary injunction restraining California's network neutrality rules from coming into effect on January 1.

"Not only is California's law regulating the Internet illegal, but it is also hurting consumers," Pai said in a statement. "The law prohibits many free data packages, which allow consumers to stream video, music, etc. They have proven extremely popular in the market, especially among low-income Americans. the consumer, this law forbids them. "