Gov. Brown signs tough net neutrality law, sets up battle with FCC, tech companies

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Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) signed the nation's toughest net neutrality measure on Sept 30, requiring internet providers to maintain a level playing field online. Advocates of net neutrality hope the move in the home of the global technology industry will have national implications, prompting Congress to enact national net neutrality rules or encouraging other states to follow suit. It's the latest example of the nation's most populous state seeking to drive public policy outside its borders and rebuff President Donald Trump's agenda. The Federal Communications Commission in 2017 repealed rules preventing internet companies from exercising more control over what people watch and see on the internet. California's law seeks to reinstate those rules. The law prohibits internet providers from blocking or slowing data based on content or from favoring websites or video streams from companies that pay extra. It also bans "zero rating," in which internet providers don't count certain content against a monthly data cap - generally video streams produced by the company's own subsidiaries and partners. Oregon, Washington and Vermont have approved legislation related to net neutrality, but California's measure is seen as the most comprehensive attempt to codify the principle in a way that might survive a likely court challenge. An identical bill was introduced in New York.


Gov. Brown signs tough net neutrality law, sets up battle with FCC, tech companies