Broadband Providers Lobby To Weaken California Net Neutrality Proposal

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Internet service providers are stepping up their fight against a California net neutrality proposal that would explicitly prohibit providers from exempting material from consumers' data caps. The proposed law, approved last month by the state Senate and currently before the Assembly, restores Obama-era net neutrality rules that ban throttling, blocking, and charging higher fees for prioritized delivery. The measure also would explicitly ban "zero-rating" -- or the practice of exempting certain material from data caps. In addition, the proposed law also limits some forms of paid "interconnection" agreements, which involve companies like Netflix paying broadband carriers to interconnect directly with their network. Consumer advocates say that "zero-rating" schemes enable broadband providers to favor their own content -- typically video -- at the expense of competitors. But the telecoms argue that zero-rating benefits consumers by allowing them to access TV shows and movies without incurring data overage fees.


Broadband Providers Lobby To Weaken California Net Neutrality Proposal