AT&T, Comcast Try to Weaken California Net Neutrality Law AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon lobbyists are working in concern to try and weaken California's tough new net neutrality law before it can pass through the state legislature. California State Senator Scott Wiener's SB 822 was recently approved by the California Senate Energy Committee and now moves on to the Judiciary Committee. The proposal has been called the "gold standard" by groups like the EFF, and goes notably further than even the modest FCC rules did by addressing things like "zero rating" (using usage caps anti-competitively).

Federal FCC net neutrality rules expired as of June 11 after a historically unpopular lobbying power play by major ISPs, and many states are now rushing it to try and protect consumers. Needless to say, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast lobbyists and executives don't much like that, and according to a new report by the EFF are engaged in a last-minute bid to weaken the rules before it can pass. "California’s legislature has so far opted to ban discriminatory users of zero rating and prevent the major wireless players from picking winners and losers online," notes the EFF. "But new and increased resistance by the ISP lobby (led by AT&T and their representative organization CALinnovates) unfortunately has legislators contemplating whether discriminatory zero rating practices should remain lawful despite their harms for low-income Internet users." "In fact, AT&T and their representatives are even going so far as to argue that their discriminatory self-dealing practices that violate net neutrality are actually good for low income Internet users," says the EFF. The idea that usage caps, overage fees and zero rating help poor people is something AT&T lobbyists (and their friends like FCC boss Ajit Pai) have been insisting for years. Of course AT&T's goal has always been anti-competitive: especially since it exempts its own content from usage caps while penalizing competitors like Netflix, in the process driving up costs for users that veer too far away from AT&T's own content or services. In fact the last FCC clearly stated that AT&T's usage of zero rating is anti-competitive. However, their realization that usage caps could be used anti-competitively came too late, and once Trump was elected the new FCC declared such arbitrary limits and gamesmanship was perfectly acceptable. Whether California lawmakers can be bribed cajoled into buying into AT&T's logic remains to be seen. "Upholding S.B. 822 means upholding a free, open Internet for all Californians," the EFF notes. "Without it, ISPs may have free rein to create two Internets that will be premised on how much income you have to the benefit of their own services and partners. With AT&T's recent victory in the courts over the Department of Justice and the expiration of federal net neutrality rules, S.B. 822's net neutrality protections have become more important than ever." "Upholding S.B. 822 means upholding a free, open Internet for all Californians," the EFF notes. "Without it, ISPs may have free rein to create two Internets that will be premised on how much income you have to the benefit of their own services and partners. With AT&T's recent victory in the courts over the Department of Justice and the expiration of federal net neutrality rules, S.B. 822's net neutrality protections have become more important than ever."







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Most recommended from 24 comments



maartena

Elmo

Premium Member

join:2002-05-10

Orange, CA 23 recommendations maartena Premium Member Here's an idea....



This law will get implemented (it has to pass an 80-member assembly with 53 Democrats, 2 Independents and 25 Republicans, and a signature from the Democratic governor) and there isn't much the telcos can do about it.



Sure, they can start suing the state, but that will take years. And by that time, the Trump cronies will hopefully have vacated the FCC and will put Net Neutrality back on the table.



Net Neutrality is as important to the Internet as the 1st Amendment is to the U.S. Constitution.





Why don't you stop lobbying altogether, because you are only making it worse..... If you guys would have just accepted the Net Neutrality laws that Obama's FCC established.... we wouldn't have any problems. You would still be able to do zero rating on wireless, and you would be a whole lot better of. But no..... you had to recruit Pai to mess with it, and now 20+ states are building their own Net Neutrality laws, some of which are more strict.This law will get implemented (it has to pass an 80-member assembly with 53 Democrats, 2 Independents and 25 Republicans, and a signature from the Democratic governor) and there isn't much the telcos can do about it.Sure, they can start suing the state, but that will take years. And by that time, the Trump cronies will hopefully have vacated the FCC and will put Net Neutrality back on the table.Net Neutrality is as important to the Internet as the 1st Amendment is to the U.S. Constitution. rradina

join:2000-08-08

Chesterfield, MO 920.3 39.3

·Charter

8 recommendations rradina Member CALInnovates...



Who would be against a group with the word innovation in its name? Innovation is as American as hot dogs, baseball, apple pie and *cough* Chevrolet, right? When our pharmaceutical overlords raise prices, that's innovation so they can fund the administrative overhead of spending government grant money in a competitive vacuum, right? ISPs just want their chance to hoover up private parts of your existence while creating innovative pricing schemes. Is that so wrong?



Far too often the word "innovation" is connected with corporate shenanigans. This group seems like another rerun.Who would be against a group with the word innovation in its name? Innovation is as American as hot dogs, baseball, apple pie and *cough* Chevrolet, right? When our pharmaceutical overlords raise prices, that's innovation so they can fund the administrative overhead of spending government grant money in a competitive vacuum, right? ISPs just want their chance to hoover up private parts of your existence while creating innovative pricing schemes. Is that so wrong?

GlennLouEarl

3 brothers, 1 gone

Premium Member

join:2002-11-17

Richmond, VA 6 recommendations GlennLouEarl Premium Member Zero-rating isn't the problem First, ISPs "innovate" the problem into existence by creating "metered" bandwidth--the concept that the more you use, the more your usage costs the ISP (something which is patently false for heavily download-centric residential traffic). But*, they are "Internet service" providers, so only Internet traffic should be metered--obviously. (*There's always a but[thead].)



If the govt. truly wanted to "level the playing field", then it would address the issue of an ISP expensing an item which has no cost in order to make it a "revenue factor" (behavior which is harmful to consumers).



"Oh, no! That would interfere with network management!!" (total BS) DigitalManny

join:2014-01-08

Glendale, CA 5 recommendations DigitalManny Member Why does the FCC exist still? Wasn't Trump complaining about how Democrats were wasting money? Oh wait this is his money maker buying out lobbyist instead using the FCC what it should be for to protect consumers from corrupt companies.

Anonb5c38

@104.129.196.x 4 recommendations Anonb5c38 Anon Time to Bust Up the Big Boys, Again Time to use antitrust laws and bust them up.



On the other hand the EU laws are beginning to show up and like it or not the US companies will have to comply. Ain't the world wonderful?

BadAnonTechG

Premium Member

join:2006-03-27

Olean, NY 3 recommendations BadAnonTechG Premium Member "Weaken" AKA Payoff All this means is they (ATT and Comcast) are trying to figure out what the price of all these committee members is. AKA Lobbyists paying to Play.

TIGERON

join:2008-03-11

Boston, MA 3 recommendations TIGERON Member Randall needs that new larger yacht. Somebody needs to eject both him and Brian Roberts into space.