But even if the bill finds enough votes in both houses, there are still potential roadblocks and other unknown factors in its path.įor instance, the FCC has yet to publish its final ruling on net neutrality, although that is expected any day.
Wiener listed 10 co-authors, all Democrats, in the Senate and Assembly. “What recourse will consumers have? How will enforcement work?” “How are they going to ‘strengthen’ legislation?” he said in an email. Monkeybrains, a San Francisco Internet services company whose management has long supported net neutrality, hailed Wiener’s action, though company partner Alex Menendez said provisions to strengthen consumer protection and unfair business practice laws were “pretty ambiguous.” The bill would also require the state to buy Internet services from companies that practice net neutrality. SB822 would try to use state Public Utilities Commission regulations governing telecommunications companies to force them to adhere to net neutrality rules.Īccording to a draft, that would include making net neutrality a requirement of cable franchise agreements, state consumer protection laws and the “state-granted right to attach small cell or other broadband wireless communications devices to utility poles.”
“We won’t let the Trump-led FCC dismantle our right to a free and open Internet, and we won’t let them create a system where Internet providers can favor websites and services based on who pays more money.” “Net neutrality is essential to our 21st-century democracy,” Wiener said in a press release.