California's state Assembly yesterday approved a strict net neutrality bill despite opposition from the telecom industry.
California's Senate already approved an earlier version of the bill in May. But some minor changes were made in the Assembly, so the Senate must vote on the bill again today before going into recess. If the Senate approves, California Governor Jerry Brown would have until September 30 to sign the bill into law.
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 also imposes limits on data cap exemptions (so-called "zero-rating") and says that ISPs may not attempt to evade net neutrality protections by slowing down traffic at network interconnection points.
Yesterday's Assembly vote was 61-18. All 55 Democratic members of the Assembly and six Republicans voted for the bill. All 18 votes against it came from Republicans.
"ISPs have tried hard to gut and kill this bill, pouring money and robocalls into California," Electronic Frontier Foundation Policy Analyst Katharine Trendacosta wrote after the vote.
With Senate action pending, "California could pass a gold standard net neutrality bill, providing a template for states going forward," Trendacosta continued. "California can prove that ISP money can't defeat real people's voices."
Strongest state net neutrality bill in US
"This bill is the strongest legislation restoring and defending net neutrality protections in any state," according to campaigner Carli Stevenson of the advocacy group Demand Progress.
The bill recently gained support from groups representing firefighters, who are angry at Verizon for throttling Santa Clara County Fire's "unlimited data" while it was fighting the state's largest-ever wildfire.
AT&T and cable lobbyists previously urged lawmakers to reject the net neutrality bill. The Assembly vote was criticized by USTelecom, which represents AT&T, Verizon, and other telcos.
"Consumers expect a single, national approach to keeping our internet open, not the confusing patchwork of conflicting requirements passed today," USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said after the vote. "The California Assembly's vote today keeps the country strapped into a rollercoaster ride of state net neutrality regulations, but won't get us any closer to the stable and consistent net neutrality protections consumers deserve in the long term."
USTelecom has also worked against national net neutrality rules by unsuccessfully suing the Federal Communications Commission during the Obama administration, and then by successfully urging the Trump-era FCC to scrap the rules.
California's proposed state law was designed to fill the void left by federal regulators, but USTelecom has said it will sue states that enact their own net neutrality rules.
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