California State Senate approves net neutrality rules, sends bill to governor

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The California Senate voted on Aug 31 to approve the toughest state-level net neutrality bill in the US, one day after the California Assembly took the same action. The bill would prohibit Internet service providers from blocking or throttling lawful traffic and from requiring fees from websites or online services to deliver or prioritize their traffic to consumers. The bill would also ban paid data cap exemptions (so-called "zero-rating"). It says that ISPs may not attempt to evade net neutrality protections by slowing down traffic at network interconnection points. The final vote was 27-12, with all 26 Democratic state senators and Republican State Senator Ling Ling Chang voting in favor. All 12 no votes came from Republican senators. In the Assembly, six Republicans joined 55 Democrats to pass the bill in a 61-18 vote. With both legislative houses having approved the bill, Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) has until September 30 to sign it into law. Broadband industry lobby group USTelecom is urging Gov. Brown to veto the bill, saying net neutrality should not be enforced with a "state-by-state piecemeal approach."

 


Calif. Senate approves net neutrality rules, sends bill to governor