A federal judge ruled Tuesday that California could apply its harsh net neutrality legislation for the first time, paving the way for the state to ban Internet providers from slowing down or blocking access to websites and applications that do not pay for premium services.
Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill in 2018, making California the first state to pass a net neutrality law. Proponents of the open Internet hoped the law would encourage Congress and other states to follow suit. The Trump administration quickly sued to block the law, which prevented it from coming into force for years while the case was settled in court.
The Biden administration dropped the lawsuit earlier this month. But in a separate lawsuit, the telecommunications industry asked a federal judge to continue blocking the law. On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez denied their request, allowing California to begin enforcing the law.
California Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and lawmaker, called the ruling “a huge victory for open access to the Internet, our democracy and our economy.”
“The Internet is at the heart of modern life. We should all be able to decide for ourselves where we go on the Internet and how we access information,” Wiener said. “We can’t allow big corporations to make these decisions for us.”
In a joint statement, several associations in the telecommunications industry said they would review the judge’s decision “before deciding on the next steps”. They urged Congress to establish net neutrality rules for the country, rather than relying on states to come up with regulations on their own.
“A state-by-state approach to Internet regulation will confuse consumers and discourage innovation, just as the importance of broadband for all has never been more obvious,” said ACA Connects, National. Cable and the Telecommunications Association and USTelecom.
California law was driven by the 2017 decision of the Federal Communications Commission to repeal the net neutrality rules that applied nationally. The telecommunications industry has fought hard against the bill, arguing that it would discourage companies from investing in higher internet speeds.
But supporters say that without rules, it would be easier for ISPs to favor their own services, making it harder for customers to access their competitors’ websites and applications.
The law seeks to prohibit Internet providers from slowing down customer data flows based on the content they watch. It also prohibits providers from speeding up access to websites willing to pay extra for special treatment.
“The ability of an internet service provider to block, slow down or speed up content based on a user’s ability to pay for services degrades the very idea of a competitive market and the open transfer of information to the center of our increasingly digital and connected world.” , Said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.