FCC will also order states to scrap plans for their own net neutrality laws

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 12:48 AM
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC will also order states to scrap plans for their
own net neutrality laws
To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>


FCC will also order states to scrap plans for their own net neutrality laws
Double win for ISPs: No more net neutrality, and state laws will be
preempted.
By JON BRODKIN
Nov 21 2017
<
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/11/fcc-will-also-order-states-to-scrap-plans-for-their-own-net-neutrality-laws/
>

In addition to ditching its own net neutrality rules, the Federal
Communications Commission also plans to tell state and local governments
that they cannot impose local laws regulating broadband service.

This detail was revealed by senior FCC officials in a phone briefing with
reporters today, and it is a victory for broadband providers that asked for
widespread preemption of state laws. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's proposed order
finds that state and local laws must be preempted if they conflict with the
US government's policy of deregulating broadband Internet service, FCC
officials said. The FCC will vote on the order at its December 14 meeting.

It isn't clear yet exactly how extensive the preemption will be. Preemption
would clearly prevent states from imposing net neutrality laws similar to
the ones being repealed by the FCC, but it could also prevent state laws
related to the privacy of Internet users or other consumer protections.
Pai's staff said that states and other localities do not have jurisdiction
over broadband because it is an interstate service and that it would
subvert federal policy for states and localities to impose their own rules.

FCC officials did not take questions from Ars during today's phone
briefing, but we have followed up with Chairman Pai's office to get more
details on the scope of the proposed preemption. We will update this story
if we get a response. Pai's draft order will be released publicly tomorrow
and may provide more detail.

Pai staff echoes industry arguments

The arguments made by Pai's staff echoed those made previously by Internet
service providers. Comcast, Verizon, and mobile industry lobby group CTIA
had all urged the FCC to preempt state laws in the weeks leading up to
today's announcement by Pai.

CTIA argued last week that broadband Internet access shouldn't be regulated
by states because it is an interstate service "within the sole jurisdiction
of the FCC, and Congress has advanced a national policy of non-regulation
for information services." That's the exact position the FCC chairman's
office is now taking.

Legislators in numerous states have tried to impose state-level versions of
the FCC privacy rules that were eliminated by Congress earlier this year.
With the FCC about to take its net neutrality rules off the books, ISPs
said they worry that states will try to enforce net neutrality on their own.

The FCC's preemption authority does have limits. A previous FCC decision to
preempt state laws that restrict the expansion of municipal broadband was
struck down by a federal appeals court. The FCC will almost certainly face
lawsuits challenging the net neutrality repeal order, and the preemption of
state laws could play a big role in litigation.

It's not clear whether the FCC provided adequate notice to the public about
the preemption plan. Today's proposal stems from a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking(NPRM) that the FCC issued in May, but that proposal did not ask
the public for input on preempting state net neutrality laws.

[snip]

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