Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Court: FCC Can Dump Net Neutrality, But Can't Bar State Laws

Associated Press

   The Federal Communications Commission could dump rules that keep
   internet providers from favoring some services over others, but
   couldn't bar states like California from enacting their own
   prohibitions, a federal court ruled.

   While Tuesday's ruling handed Trump-appointed regulators a partial
   victory, consumer advocates and other groups viewed the ruling as a
   victory for states and local governments seeking to put in their own
   net neutrality rules.

   The FCC's 2015 net neutrality rules had barred internet providers such
   as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from blocking, slowing down or charging
   internet companies to favor some sites or apps over others.
   After the FCC repealed the rules, phone and cable companies are
   permitted to slow down or block services they don't like or happen to
   be in competition with. Companies could also charge higher fees of
   rivals and make them pay for higher transmission speeds.
   Such things have happened before. In 2007, for example, The Associated
   Press found that Comcast was blocking or throttling some file-sharing.
   And AT&T blocked Skype and other internet calling services on the
   iPhone until 2009.

   The court now says that's all permissible -- as long as companies
   disclose it.

   But in Tuesday's decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
   of Columbia Circuit ruled that the FCC failed to show legal authority
   to bar states from imposing any rules that the agency repealed or that
   are stricter than its own.

   "This ruling empowers states to move forward in the absence of a
   federal approach to consumer protections," said Lisa Hayes, co-CEO of
   the Center for Democracy & Technology.

.