We will find out!
In California, Senate Bill 822 is awaiting Governor Brown’s signature
for its net neutrality legislation to become law. The law would prevent Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) operating in the state from blocking, throttling, and
prioritizing traffic over broadband networks.
States, particularly ones with Democratic Governors and/or Attorney
Generals, are arguing, that when the FCC went to light-touch regulation of the
Internet, changing the broadband classification from common carrier (Title II) to
information service (Title I), the FCC gave up its preemptive authority to
dictate what they can do. (Note: Two
years prior to the FCC rule change on net neutrality, the U.S. Court of Appeals
stated that the FCC does not have the power to
preempt state laws that restrict cities from building their own broadband
networks.)
But, in this situation, the FCC believes that
it can preempt state laws that conflict with its policy because broadband is
an interstate service that does not recognize state lines. Representing the industry, Jonathan Spalter,
President and CEO of USTelecom, argues that “The internet must be governed by a
single, uniform and consistent national policy framework, not state-by-state
piecemeal approaches.”
Who is right? Or, who will win? I’m not sure, but the short-term costs of complying
with and legally challenging states that have adopted net neutrality laws or
executive orders will be very costly for the ISPs. Of the 22 states with Democrats as Attorney Generals,
12 have Democrats as Governors. Oregon
and Washington were the first two states to pass laws. As evident by California’s actions, they will
not be the last.
|
State
|
Governor
|
Attorney General
|
|
California
|
X
|
X
|
|
Colorado
|
X
|
|
|
Connecticut
|
X
|
X
|
|
Delaware
|
X
|
X
|
|
Hawaii
|
X
|
X
|
|
Illinois
|
|
X
|
|
Iowa
|
|
X
|
|
Kentucky
|
|
X
|
|
Louisiana
|
X
|
|
|
Maine
|
|
X
|
|
Maryland
|
|
X
|
|
Massachusetts
|
|
X
|
|
Minnesota
|
X
|
X
|
|
Mississippi
|
|
X
|
|
Montana
|
X
|
|
|
New Mexico
|
|
X
|
|
New Jersey
|
X
|
X
|
|
New York
|
X
|
X
|
|
North Carolina
|
X
|
X
|
|
Oregon
|
X
|
X
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
X
|
X
|
|
Rhode Island
|
X
|
X
|
|
Vermont
|
|
X
|
|
Virginia
|
|
X
|
|
Washington
|
X
|
X
|
|
West Virginia
|
X
|
|
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