California’s Senate Misfires on Network Neutrality, Ignores Viable Options

The California Senate approved legislation that would require Internet service providers (ISPs) in California to follow the now-repealed 2015 Open Internet Order. While well-intentioned, the legislators sadly chose an approach that is vulnerable to legal attack. 

States are constrained because federal policy can override, or “pre-empt,” state regulation in many circumstances. State law that doesn’t take this into account can be invalidated by the federal law. It’s a waste to pass a bill that is vulnerable to legal challenge by ISPs when strong alternatives are available. In a letter to the California Senate, EFF provided legal analysis explaining how the state can promote network neutrality in a legally sustainable way. Unfortunately, SB 460, the legislation approved by the California Senate, is lacking many of the things EFF’s letter addressed.


California’s Senate Misfires on Network Neutrality, Ignores Viable Options California’s net neutrality bill is vulnerable to legal attack, EFF says (ars technica)