A federal judge in California decided on Tuesday that a law on net neutrality in the country can now be implemented in the state in 2018, signaling a huge victory for supporters of a more egalitarian internet and paving the way for other states will begin to introduce i openown internet rules.
After The Trump administration moved to remove network neutrality protections at the national level in 2018, California parliamentarians had they sought to take matters into their own hands through handicrafts designed legislation to prevent iinternet service providers to block or slow down web traffic.
Shortly after it was approved, the digital protection law was met with legal opposition from telecommunications giants, including AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and others, as well as from The Trump-era Justice Department sued the law a few hours after it first came into force.
But on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez ruled the law could be enforced and also rejected an ongoing order. from a telecommunications association whose members included AT&T, Verizon and Charter.
“The judge found that the law is based on a solid legal basis and that ISPs trying to overturn it will not prevail,” said Barbara van Schewick, a law professor at Stanford University. one of the legal briefs in support of the law, he told Washington Post.
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“The judge found, as I have long argued, that an agency that says it does not have the power to regulate, does not have the power to tell others that it cannot regulate,” she said.
The news comes weeks later Department of Justice– under a Biden friendly with net neutrality administration – announced that it is giving up the Trump era lawcostume against The protections proposed by California.
Four trade groups involved in efforts to overthrow the law – American Cable Association, CTIA, National Cable and Telecommunications Association and USTelecom – said further Tuesday that they will “review the court’s opinion before deciding on the next steps,” indicating the potential for a lawsuit that will again delay California in enforcing the law..
“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 evident,” the groups said. he said in a joint statement. “We agree with the Court that a fragmented approach is unbearable and that Congress should codify the rules for an open Internet.”