Earlier today, the U.S Department of Justice stated that they will sue California over its new Net Neutrality law. California Governor, Jerry Brown, came under the radar just after he signed the recent bill into law. The lawsuit claims that California’s lawmakers are trying to “subvert the Federal Government’s deregulatory approach.” FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, and the representatives of the Justice Department announced the legislature.
For many people, Net Neutrality is simply how the Internet is intended to work. The repeal in Net Neutrality means that ISPs have full command over the activities of Internet users. They can simply ban websites they wish and allow websites to function which they find well to do.
Moreover, they can slow down the browsing of certain websites and speeding up others. This mechanism, called ISP throttling, gives ISPs a certain authority of the activities of netizens. One of the ways to protect yourself from ISP throttling is to use VPN services, you may get even faster internet speed with VPNs and in addition, have you data encrypted and devices protected from computer viruses.
According to the new law, ISPs will have no authority whatsoever to slow down or block websites they wish. Neither, they will charge a surplus fee for providing faster access to specific customers. California is a state which has strong influence, as compared to the other states, over legislatures and multi-billion businesses.
Certainly, this law would have proven to be a moment of rejoicing for Internet users in the state. It would have made the Internet as it was meant to be, free and open for everyone. Net Neutrality is the basic principle by which ISPs should treat all digital data equally. Last year, the Trump administration repealed Net Neutrality, thereby giving ISPs the full domain to regulate websites as they wish.
In the past, FCC attempted to confound state laws to slow down the growth of broadband networks, but, a federal court dismissed this decision. The revoke of net neutrality laws is being faced by communities at large as well. California’s authority to implement its new net neutrality laws shall be tried in court. According to the FCC, states are not allowed to impose their own net neutrality laws.
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Senator, Scott Wiener, who played an important part in the new bill told the media that What California does definitely impact the national conversation. He believes that this bill will move them in a positive direction nationally on net neutrality.” In response to this, FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai argued that the law prohibits many free-data plans, which allow customers to stream video, music and the like exempt from any data limits.
Furthermore, Ajit Pai had to say that they have proven enormously popular in the marketplace, especially among lower-income Americans. The FCC is debating against California over clauses in the 2017 net neutrality repeal. The FCC argues that it has the power to preempt state-level laws because broadband service crosses state lines.
Without no doubt, apart from the lawsuit from the D.O.J, ISPs will litigate California against this recent bill as well. High authority organizations like Comcast and AT&T will lobby against this bill. The updated legislature bans interconnection charges and has a ‘zero-rating’ rule. The zero-rating rule means that telecommunication organizations will exempt apps from including a data cap to customers.
The law confronted great resistance from industry stakeholders who battered lawmakers by instigating an online propaganda against them. Scott Weiner also had to say that the Internet Service Providers, the telecom and cable companies are very powerful in Sacramento and across the country as they have a big punch and it is very hard to fight them.
Adamantly, Scott Weiner says that we will vigorously defend this law. The authors of the bill have the back of online activists, civic groups and emerging companies, however, the Silicon Valley giants haven’t said anything. According to Weiner, California has the power to defend the Internet along with business and residents. The state has the most powerful net neutrality legislatures in the entire country and has set a benchmark for other states to enact.
The Trump Administration is trying its level best to weaken democracy but California took a big step for the online privacy of Internet users. This will provide an equal ground for businesses and ideas which are trying to strive in the digital domain. Yet, FCC’s authority to antedate state legislature is restricted.
Mr. Ajit Pai terms California’s net neutrality legislature as “illegal”. Soon we expect a grievance will be filed by the US Department of Justice. Their point is that state leaders have no power to control Net Neutrality. The DOJ attempts to get a word from the Congress that the rest of the states do not publish their own laws regarding how the Internet should be regulated.