The senate will vote next week
There's still hope for Net Neutrality.
The next important date for Net Neutrality: June 12, 2018 (or earlier, depending on an upcoming Senate vote)
On or before June 12, 2018, the U.S. Senate will vote on whether to block the
2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Act
, which, despite its name, is the legislation that would effectively repeal the Open Internet Act of 2015. That law established Net Neutrality and its protection over the internet.
The Senate is holding this vote under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress a 60-day window in which it can nullify the FCC’s decision. Democrats filed the plan within the 60 day window back in February, but the petition filed today will force a vote by June 12.
While Senate approval seems likely (the act only needs a 50-vote majority instead of the normal 51, because of John McCain’s illness-related absence), passage in the House of Representatives will be a much bigger challenge. Republicans have a 236 to 193 member majority, and the act requires a simple majority to move it along. Even if it passes the House, it would still require the president’s signature to block the repeal.
Congressional Republicans and internet companies have already started stating their objections to the repeal. A key piece of their argument suggests that Net Neutrality unfairly targets internet service providers, without regulating big internet companies like Google and Facebook.
State lawsuits
Even if the Congressional effort to stop the Net Neutrality repeal fails (which many believe it will), the changes still won’t immediately go into effect. There is currently a coalition of 23 state attorneys general suing the FCC on the grounds that the repeal is illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits “arbitrary and capricious” changes to policy.
The states included are: New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
Unfortunately, former New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman acted as the head of the coalition. Popular Science has reached out to the coalition to find out who will take the lead after his recent departure.
State Laws
On April 6, 2018, Oregon governor, Kate Brown, announced a
state-specific Net Neutrality bill
. “HB 4155 mandates that public bodies in Oregon only contract with internet service providers that operate under net neutrality, which requires internet service providers to enable equal access for all web traffic, regardless of the source.”
The FCC claims that states and cities don’t have the right to make this kind of law in the face of federal regulations, and lobbyists that represent ISPs plan to sue the states to get the laws taken off the books.
When will Net Neutrality go away?
The official documents on the Federal Register stated April 23, 2018 as the day on which parts of the repeal would officially go into effect, but that didn’t include the most substantial and contentious issues. like
throttling
and “internet fast-lanes.” Those sections are the bulk of what concerns Net Neutrality proponents.
Another forthcoming document in the Federal Register will give specific dates for those changes after the US Office of Management and Budget. That is, of course, assuming that Congressional efforts to stop the appeal fail. The legal battles over the original implementation of Net Neutrality went on for more than a year.
What can you do right now?
You can join the fight against the repeal by contacting your local lawmakers and encouraging them to vote to support efforts to block the Restoring Internet Freedom Act.
Battle for the Net
lets you do it using a simple form.
