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California Legislature Approves Strongest Net Neutrality Bill in the U.S.

posted by chromas on Saturday September 01 2018, @11:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the gold-standard-from-the-golden-state dept.

takyon writes:

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essentially restore the net neutrality rules enacted federally under former President Barack Obama, which were later repealed by the Federal Communications Commission under the watch and guidance of current chairman Ajit Pai.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.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:50AM (2 children)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:50AM (#729404) Journal

    Australia is tearing up all the copper, and replacing it with (some) fibre.

    5G just might end up maiking the crappy hybrid/not-really-fibre-NBN redundant [whistleout.com.au]..
    Or maybe not [canstarblue.com.au]

    The fastest speeds currently available in Australia are 1Gbps, with Wollongong in NSW being dubbed ‘gigatown’, which is up to 20 times slower than what could be achievable on 5G.

    The fastest NBN speed tier available to most Australians is 100Mbps, while 5G could reach up to 20Gbps – 200 times faster.
    Aside from speed, 5G may also reduce ‘ping’ times, which could be a game changer for online gamers. These guys are serious about their internet performance!
    In recent trials, Optus said it achieved real-world results of 2Gbps.

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:57AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Sunday September 02 2018, @02:57AM (#729406) Journal

    5G might reach 20 Gbps. At really short ranges. Probably some fiber should connect the 5G base stations to the Internet. And can a single station serve an entire neighborhood at that speed or just a single house?

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