The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of California on Sunday evening after Gov. Jerry Brown singed a new bill into law that enforces net neutrality rules that were abandoned by the Federal Communications Commission last year, Politico reported.
The bill was passed by the California state legislature in August and has been rebuked by the FCC and some companies, like USTelecom, which owns AT&T and Verizon. The new law aims to protect internet safeguards implemented by the Obama administration, which were rolled back by the FCC last year.
“The Justice Department should not have to spend valuable time and resources to file this suit today, but we have a duty to defend the prerogatives of the federal government and protect our Constitutional order,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Sunday. “We will do so with vigor. We are confident that we will prevail in this case —because the facts are on our side.”
Again the repugs former belief in the supremacy of “states rights” goes swirling down the toilet bowl in the name of corporate profits.
“USTelecom, which owns AT&T and Verizon.”
Even in our current gilded age of antitrust enforcement, this is plainly and obviously untrue.
This is a standard Supremacy Clause case. Sessions will win. The real issue is how can California develop the clout it needs in Congress when 7 rural western states have far more representation than Los Angeles.
If there were a federal law forbidding net neutrality, you would be correct. There is no such law, so your assertion is mistaken.
Thanks. Then it is Federal regulation vs. state law. Different question. Let’s see how it plays out.