Ride the Lightning

U.S. Government Will Sue California to Quash Its Net Neutrality Law

October 2, 2018

The Washington Post reported on September 30^th that the Trump administration said it will sue California to block what some experts have described as the toughest net neutrality law ever enacted in the United States.

On Sunday California became the largest state to adopt its own rules requiring internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon to treat all web traffic equally. California legislators took the step of writing their law after the Federal Communications Commission ditched nationwide protections last year, citing the regulatory burdens they had caused for the telecom industry.

Hours after California's proposal became law, senior Justice Department officials said they would take the state to court on grounds that the federal government has the exclusive power to regulate net neutrality. DOJ officials stressed the FCC had been granted such authority from Congress to ensure that all 50 states don't seek to write their own, potentially conflicting, rules governing the web.

The new law prohibits internet providers from blocking access to sites and services, slowing down web connections or charging companies for faster delivery of their movies, music or other content. Smaller web firms, in particular, worry that they do not have the resources to pay telecom giants to make sure their content is seen. The law also bans carriers from exempting apps from counting toward consumers' data allowances each month if doing so might harm companies, especially start-ups.

More than 20 states filed lawsuits against the FCC, arguing that the agency had acted arbitrarily in repealing the net neutrality rules. Their efforts have won the support of companies like Mozilla and trade associations representing tech giants including Amazon, Facebook and Google, along with consumer groups like Free Press and Public Knowledge.

Many governors and legislatures also set about trying to come up with policies preserving net neutrality within their borders, even though the FCC's repeal order explicitly prohibited states from writing their own open-internet laws. That prompted the DOJ to file its lawsuit in a federal court in Sacramento, which seeks a preliminary injunction that will stop California's net neutrality rules from taking effect on January 1.

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