https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/1/17922674/us-government-sues-california-over-net-neutralitylaw
Trump administration sues California over
tough net neutrality law
53 comments
‘An extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate
federal policy’
By Jon Porter@JonPorty Oct 1, 2018, 6:26am EDT
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
The Justice Department has hit back against California’s attempt to restore net neutrality rules
with a lawsuit that alleges state legislators are attempting to “subvert the Federal Government’s
deregulatory approach.” The suit was announced jointly by representatives of the Justice
Department and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai (via USA Today).
As the most populous US state and home to many of the world’s largest tech companies,
California’s net neutrality rules, passed into law Sunday, hold significant sway. The DoJ lawsuit
is likely to become a key test of the federal government’s net neutrality legislation, establishing
whether states have any right to enact their own rules that go against those imposed at the
national level.
“We in California will continue to do what’s right for our residents”
California isn’t the only state that’s attempting to restore net neutrality. The National Conference
of State Legislatures reports that as of August 27th, legislators from 30 states have introduced
over 72 bills around various net neutrality principles. Governors in six states have signed
executive orders, and Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have already adopted their own net
neutrality rules following the FCC’s reversal.
“Once we establish California as a model of a state taking action, other states may follow, and
then I think you may see some of corporate America say ‘OK, let’s have a federal law, because
we don’t want to have to do different things in different states,’” House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi said at a press conference in San Francisco, Politico reported.
The fight over net neutrality has prompted strong responses on both sides of the issue. California
Attorney General Xavier Becerra lambasted the Trump Administration for ignoring the
“millions” of Americans opposed to net neutrality’s repeal and said that California “will not
allow a handful of power brokers to dictate sources for information or the speed at which
websites load.”
Becerra even went as far as to say net neutrality could mean the difference between life and
death after a California fire chief suggested that Verizon’s data throttling had slowed his
department’s response to the recent wildfires.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department called California’s new legislation “extreme,” “illegal,” and
“burdensome” on internet providers. FCC chairman Ajit Pai has claimed that it harms consumers
by restricting so-called “free-data” plans, which allow internet providers to zero-rate data from
certain services.
Zero-rating is an area that has proved particularly divisive. The Obama era’s net neutrality rules
did not explicitly ban the practice (it left it open for further study), but California’s new
legislation does. Although Pai claims that zero-rating is popular amongst “lower-income
Americans,” others argue that it gives incumbent internet services an unfair market advantage,
while letting internet providers pick the winners and losers. In other words, what chance does a
new streaming media service have if internet providers can bundle free access to Netflix without
it impacting users’ data caps?
“While the Trump Administration does everything in its power to undermine our democracy, we
in California will continue to do what’s right for our residents,” said the bill’s sponsor, California
Senator Scott Wiener. “Net neutrality, at its core, is the basic notion that we each get to decide
where we go on the internet, as opposed to having that decision made for us by internet service
providers. It’s also about ensuring a level playing field for ideas and for businesses trying to
compete.”
8/23/2015
Questions and Answers on Net Neutrality
Published on Christian Coalition of America (http://www.cc.org)
Home > Questions and Answers on Net Neutrality
Questions and Answers on Net Neutrality
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality is a founding principle of the Internet. It ensures that all Internet users are able
to experience the Internet in a way of their choosing without interference from an Internet
service provider (ISP). Net Neutrality protects your freedom to view websites without
restriction, or regulation by the government or ISPs. It ensures an open Internet marketplace
without any discrimination based on site content or financial stipulations. Net Neutrality is,
and always has been, the rule of the road for the Internet.
Who is against Net Neutrality?
Cable and telephone companies, who currently provide 94% of broadband Internet access,
would like to eliminate Net Neutrality so that they would, for the first time in Internet history,
be able to discriminate on the Internet in favor of their own content and services. They are
spending millions of dollars lobbying Congress to eliminate Net Neutrality and their powerful
lobby has convinced many lawmakers that it is not necessary. This battle is taking place
RIGHT NOW in the US House and Senate.
Who supports Net Neutrality?
Nearly anyone and any business not involved with the cable and phone companies supports
keeping the Internet as the open marketplace that it is today. Consumer groups, small
businesses, innovators, family and religious groups, financial services, retailers as well as
major Internet brands such as Google, Yahoo!, Amazon.com, Earthlink, eBay, Intel,
Microsoft, Skype, Vonage are fighting to keep the Internet open.
Why Does It Matter?
If Net Neutrality dies, the Internet as we know it today will cease to exist. Cable and phone
companies will win the ability to charge Internet content providers and even individuals an
extra fee for delivering content, turning the information superhighway into a toll road. They
will also be able to slow down, degrade or even block the content of any website that does
not pay those fees. Small businesses, innovators and technology entrepreneurs that rely on
the Internet to reach consumers could be priced out of the marketplace entirely.
If Congress turns the Internet over to the telephone and cable giants, everyone who uses the
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Questions and Answers on Net Neutrality
Internet will be affected. Connecting to your office could take longer if you don't purchase
your carrier's preferred applications. Sending family photos and videos could slow to a crawl.
Web pages you always use for online banking, access to health care information, planning a
trip, or communicating with friends and family could fall victim to payforplay schemes.
Independent voices and political groups are especially vulnerable. Costs will skyrocket to
post and share video and audio clips, silencing bloggers and amplifying the big media
companies. Political organizing could be slowed by the handful of dominant Internet providers
who ask advocacy groups or candidates to pay a fee to join the "fast lane."
What does Net Neutrality protect?
One of the Internet's great strengths is that a single blogger, company, or group can
inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible as Google's or Microsoft's home
page and compete in the open marketplace. Net Neutrality allows and protects this vibrant
competition and allows even the smallest, homebased business anywhere to compete in the
global economy. Network operators are not permitted to interfere in the flow of information
and innovation, based on the content, service, or affiliation.
Why Is Congress Considering It?
Suddenly last summer, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission decided, at the
urging of the cable and phone companies, to stop enforcing Net Neutrality. These
companies want to enact this permanently into law so that they may legally discriminate in
favor of their own content and services, something that has never happened in the history of
the Internet.
What about free markets and competition?
Cable and phone companies want you to believe that eliminating Net Neutrality is the only
way to preserve fair and open competition. However, currently 98% of all broadband
connections are controlled by these companies. If Net Neutrality ends, they will have
effective control over what content is most accessible on the Internet, rather than the free
market.
Nothing bad has happened yet so isn't this just hypothetical? What could happen?
Without strong legislation protecting Net Neutrality, the following examples will become the
norm:
In 2004, North Carolina ISP Madison River blocked their DSL customers from using any
rival webbased phone service (like Vonage, Skype, etc.).
In 2005, Canada's telephone giant Telus blocked customers from visiting a website
sympathetic to the Telecommunications Workers Union during a labor dispute.
Shaw, a big Canadian cable TV company, is charging $10 extra a month to subscribers
in order to "enhance" competing Internet telephone services.
In April, Time Warner's AOL blocked all emails that mentioned www.dearaol.com [1]
and advocacy campaign opposing the company's paytosend email plan.
What can you do to help?
Contact your Congressman and Senators and let them know that you want to keep the free
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Questions and Answers on Net Neutrality
market in control of the Internet. Tell them that you favor Net Neutrality. The Congressional
Switchboard number is: 2022243121.
© 2015 Christian Coalition of America Roberta Combs, President PO Box 37030
Washington, DC 20013 2024796900
Source URL: http://www.cc.org/questions_and_answers_net_neutrality
Links:
[1] http://www.dearaol.com/
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