U.S. sues after California governor signs
'net neutrality' law
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[October 01, 2018]
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice
Department late on Sunday filed suit after California Governor Jerry
Brown signed legislation to restore open internet protections known as
net neutrality in the state after the Trump administration repealed the
rules in December 2017.
This marked the latest clash between the Trump administration and
California, which have sparred over environmental, immigration and other
hot-button issues.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Sunday in a statement that
"states do not regulate interstate commerce — the federal government
does. Once again the California legislature has enacted an extreme and
illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy."
California’s net neutrality law is set to take effect on Jan. 1, but the
Justice Department late Sunday in a court filing sought a preliminary
injunction to block it from taking effect, warning that internet
companies "cannot realistically comply with one set of standards in this
area for California and another for the rest of the nation — especially
when internet communications frequently cross multiple jurisdictions."
The government said that California sought to "second-guess" the federal
government and warned "the effect of this state legislation would be to
nullify federal law across the country."
In December, the Federal Communications Commission said in repealing the
Obama-era rules that it was preempting states from setting their own
rules governing internet access.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said on Sunday the Trump
Administration was ignoring "millions of Americans who voiced strong
support for net neutrality rules" while California, which is "home to
countless start-ups, tech giants and nearly 40 million consumers - will
not allow a handful of power brokers to dictate sources for information
or the speed at which websites load."
The Trump administration rules were a win for providers like Comcast
Corp <CMCSA.O>, AT&T Inc <T.N> and Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N>,
but the net neutrality repeal was opposed by internet companies like
Facebook Inc <FB.O>, Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> and Alphabet Inc <GOOGL.O>.
In March, Brown accused the Trump administration of essentially
declaring war on the most populous U.S. state after the Justice
Department sued to stop policies that protect illegal immigrants against
deportation.
Under President Donald Trump, the FCC voted 3-2 in December along party
lines to reverse rules that barred internet service providers from
blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid fast lanes, also known
as paid prioritization.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who led the effort to reverse net neutrality,
said in a statement on Sunday that "not only is California’s internet
regulation law illegal, it also hurts consumers. The law prohibits many
free-data plans, which allow consumers to stream video, music, and the
like exempt from any data limits."
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California Governor Jerry Brown delivers his final state of the
state address in Sacramento, California, U.S., January 25, 2018.
REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File Photo
Gigi Sohn, a former senior aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who ran
the agency when the net neutrality rules were adopted, said the
California law "is now the model for all future state and federal
legislation ... this is what internet users across the political
spectrum have said they want by overwhelming majorities."
Jonathan Spalter, who heads USTelecom, an industry trade group, said
California's law will not "help advance the promise and potential of
California’s innovation DNA."
He argued that instead of 50 separate state laws, "we need Congress
to step up with a national framework for the whole internet
ecosystem and resolve this issue once and for all."
In August, 22 states and a coalition of trade groups representing
major tech companies urged a federal appeals court to reinstate the
rules. Oral arguments are set for February 1.
The U.S. Senate voted in May to reinstate the net neutrality rules,
but the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of
Representatives and the White House also opposes it.
The FCC in December handed ISPs sweeping new powers to recast how
Americans use the internet, as long as they disclose changes. The
new rules took effect in June but providers have made no changes in
access.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
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