California passes strongest net neutrality law in the country
California's legislature has approved a bill being called the strongest net neutrality law in the US. The bill would ban internet providers from blocking and throttling legal content and prioritizing some sites and services over others. It would apply these restrictions to both home and mobile connections.
That would essentially restore the net neutrality rules enacted federally under former President Barack Obama, which were later repealed by the Federal Communications Commission under the watch and guidance of current chairman Ajit Pai. But this bill actually goes further than those rules with an outright ban on zero-rating — the practice of offering free data, potentially to the advantage of some companies over others — of specific apps. Zero-rating would, however, still be allowed as long as the free data applies to an entire category of apps. So an ISP could offer free data for all video streaming apps, but not just for Netflix. [...] The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the final legislation "a gold standard net neutrality bill."
Now, the bill heads to the governor's desk. California Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't said whether he'll sign the legislation, but it's garnered the support of top state Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Kamala Harris.
Also at Engadget.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:10AM (1 child)
Equally arguable, no: internet may be galaxy-wide, but you are still selling access to it locally. So internet access could be considered a state-local service.
As a self-declared sorta-libertarian, aren't you on the side of states self-determination? Why do you want feds sticking their grubby fingers into state affairs? (GRIN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:19AM
I don't. I was just enumerating one of the arguments that will be made.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.