A U.S. Appeals Court ruled this week that net neutrality couldn’t be reinstated by America’s Federal Communications Commission. But “Despite the dismantling of the FCC’s efforts to regulate broadband internet service, state laws in California, New York and elsewhere remain intact,” notes the Los Angeles Times:
This week’s decision by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, striking down the FCC’s open internet rules, has little bearing on state laws enacted during the years-long tug-of-war over the government’s power to regulate internet service providers, telecommunications experts said. In fact, some suggested that the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit’s decision — along with other rulings and the U.S. Supreme Court’s posture on a separate New York case — has effectively fortified state regulators’ efforts to fill the gap. “Absent an act of Congress, the FCC has virtually no role in broadband any more,” Ernesto Falcon, a program manager for the California Public Utilities Commission, said in an interview. “The result of this decision is that states like California, New York and others will have to govern and regulate broadband carriers on our own.”
California has one of the nation’s strongest laws on net neutrality, the principle that internet traffic must be treated equally to ensure a free and open network. Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the measure into law in 2018, months after federal regulators in President elect-Donald Trump’s first administration repealed the net neutrality rules put in place under President Obama. Colorado, Oregon and other states also adopted their own standards.
The Golden State’s law has already survived legal challenges. It also prompted changes in the way internet service providers offered plans and services. “California’s net neutrality law, which is seen as the gold standard by consumer advocates, carries national impact,” Falcon said…. “The state’s authority and role in broadband access has grown dramatically now,” Falcon said.
California’s net neutrality rules prohibit “throttling” data speeds, according to the article.
