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posted by chromas on Monday October 22 2018, @10:01AM   Printer-friendly

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

Entire broadband industry sues Vermont to stop state net neutrality law

The nation's largest broadband industry lobby groups have sued Vermont to stop a state law that requires ISPs to follow net neutrality principles in order to qualify for government contracts.

The lawsuit[pdf] was filed yesterday in US District Court in Vermont by mobile industry lobby CTIA, cable industry lobby NCTA, telco lobby USTelecom, the New England Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the American Cable Association (ACA), which represents small and mid-size cable companies.

CTIA, NCTA, USTelecom, and the ACA also previously sued California to stop a much stricter net neutrality law, but they're now expanding the legal battle to multiple states. These lobby groups represent all the biggest mobile and home Internet providers in the US and hundreds of smaller ISPs. Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US, Sprint, Cox, Frontier, and CenturyLink are among the groups' members.

While the California law applies to all consumer broadband providers, Vermont's law is narrower and may be more likely to survive legal challenge. Vermont's law creates a process in which ISPs can certify that they comply with net neutrality guidelines, and it says that state agencies may only buy Internet service from ISPs that obtain those certifications.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott, a Republican, also issued an executive order[pdf] imposing similar requirements on state agencies. The broadband industry lawsuit asks the court to rule that both the Vermont law and executive order are preempted by federal law.

The lobby groups point to the Federal Communications Commission repeal of US-wide net neutrality rules because the FCC order claims the authority to preempt state net neutrality laws.

[...] The state law is also preempted because of "the inherently interstate nature" of broadband, the complaint said.

To get certified for state contracts, Vermont says that ISPs must demonstrate that they do not block or throttle lawful Internet traffic or engage in paid prioritization. The certification also prohibits ISPs from "engaging in deceptive or misleading marketing practices that misrepresent the treatment of Internet traffic or content to its customers." ISPs seeking certification also have to publicly disclose accurate information about their network management practices, network performance, and the commercial terms of their Internet service.

[...] The lawsuit could serve as a test case for other states that are attempting to regulate net neutrality indirectly through state contracts. Besides Vermont, the governors of Hawaii, Montana, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island have also issued executive orders to impose net neutrality rules on ISPs that provide Internet service to state government agencies.


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 22 2018, @11:54AM (2 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 22 2018, @11:54AM (#751936) Journal

    They lack standing. The individual corporations have to sue. The judge should slap them down before opening statements.

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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Monday October 22 2018, @01:11PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Monday October 22 2018, @01:11PM (#751953) Journal

    Corporations are always pushing the boundaries, seeing what they can get away with. It's one of the reasons we have so many laws-- it's to stop all the bull the slimy ones pull.

    I don't know whether a lobby group lacks standing. But this move seems full of chutzpah. They're suing, when it seems it should be the other way around? The people are the ones who have grounds to sue them! Or, skip the lawsuits and just go straight to the punitive fines, for bribery and corruption and such like. They're like a little kid who broke a dish and is trying to blame it on the whole world apart from themselves. In a normal household, you'd discipline that child swiftly, call out the bull and make him admit he broke it and help clean up the mess. But in America these days, who knows.

  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Monday October 22 2018, @05:33PM

    by Pino P (4721) on Monday October 22 2018, @05:33PM (#752051) Journal

    They lack standing. The individual corporations have to sue.

    The list of plaintiffs in the complaint includes "their members".