California on Friday announced that they plan to delay their new state net neutrality law, after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to hold off on their lawsuit to stop it.
California’s new net neutrality law prohibits slowing down or blocking access to content and a ban on zero rating when they single out select services. The zero-rating ban would be the harshest net neutrality rule yet imposed—even the FCC did not ban zero rating on wireless carriers. This would put an end, for example, to AT&T’s unlimited data if you use DIRECTV NOW unless they also offered it to competing services like Sling TV.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on back in late November that “states do not regulate interstate commerce — the federal government does. Once again the California legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy.”
Under the proposed deal between federal and state officials, the DoJ will postpone its lawsuit against California until a separate case directly involving the Federal Communications Commission is decided. The agreement must be approved by a judge.
The Department of Justice isn’t the only party looking to put a stop to the new California net neutrality law. Many Internet Service providers oppose the law, including AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. The ISPs say that while they support the idea of net neutrality, they’re against certain parts of the regulations, such as the bans on zero rating and paid priority. The ISPs are expected to challenge the new law in court before it takes effect.
