The U.S. Justice Department recently dropped the legal challenge to California's net neutrality law that addressed the protection of open internet.
California adopted an independent statute in 2017 after the Federal Communications Commission decided to rescind the net neutrality rules created under the Obama Administration. Later in 2018 under the Trump Administration, the Justice Department argued that the federal law prevented the state from blocking internet traffic or creating fast lanes.
“When the FCC, over my objection, rolled back its net neutrality policies, states like California sought to fill the void with their own laws,” Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement, told by Reuters. “By taking this step, Washington is listening to the American people, who overwhelmingly support an open internet, and is charting a course to once again make net neutrality the law of the land.”
Rosenworcel
Public Knowledge has continuously advocated for keeping the internet laws neutral while encouraging the public to speak out, and filed a petition to reconsider the previous FCC approach.
“Our petition asks the FCC to reconsider the previous FCC’s approach to the D.C. Circuit’s Remand Order," Kathleen Burke, policy counsel at Public Knowledge said in a statement. "In its rush to get its deregulatory orders out the door, the Commission cut many procedural corners. This alone provides grounds for the FCC to reopen and reverse its previous determinations. While certain major policy decisions will have to wait for a fully-staffed FCC, bureau staff can put our and other petitions out for public comment, so that advocates can begin establishing a record that shows how the FCC’s experiment in discarding its own authority to regulate broadband providers was a mistake that jeopardized consumers.”
To view the petition submitted by Public Knowledge, click here.