A federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday that a first net neutrality law passed in the state in 2018 can now be applied, which marks a huge victory for the proponents of a more egalitarian internet and paves the way for other states are beginning to introduce the open andown rules of the Internet.
After the Trump administration moved a remove net neutrality protections nationwide in 2018, California they had the legislators they tried to take matters into their own hands with artisanal creation designed legislation to prevent iinternet service providers block or slow down web traffic.
Shortly after the digital protection law was passed was known legal opposition from telecommunications giants, including AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and others, as well as the Trump-era Justice Department, which demanded to block the law hours after it first came into force.
But on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez ruled the law could proceed with enforcement and also dismissed a pending court order. of a telecommunications partnership that counted between AT&T, Verizon and Charter.
“The judge held that the law is based on a solid legal basis and that ISPs trying to overturn it are unlikely to prevail,” said Barbara van Schewick, a law professor at Stanford University. one of the legal writings in support of the law, said al Washington Post.
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“The judge found, as I have argued for a long time, that an agency that says it has no power to regulate, has no power to tell others that they cannot regulate,” he said.
The news comes weeks after the Department of Justice– under a Biden, compatible with net neutrality administration – announced that it was falling his Trump era Lawdress against The protections proposed by California.
The four business groups involved in efforts to repeal the law – The American Cable Association, the CTIA, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and USTelecom – reported Tuesday this “will review the court’s opinion before deciding on the next steps,” indicating the possibility of an appeal process that will again delay California in enforcing the law.
“A state-by-state approach to Internet regulation will confuse consumers and deter innovation, just as the importance of broadband for everyone has never been more evident.” he said in a joint statement. “We agree with the Court that a partial approach is unsustainable and that Congress should codify the rules for an open Internet.”