Network neutrality is now the law of the land in California. Governor Jerry Brown signed senate bill 822 today. That’s according to a tweet by the bill’s author, senator Scott Wiener, (D – San Francisco).
It reinstates network neutrality rules that were scrapped last year by the Federal Commission. The three bright line rules established by the FCC in 2015 – no blocking, throttling or paid prioritisation of Internet traffic – are back on the books. Preferential zero rating is included on the list of banned practices. It’s a close cousin of paid prioritisation: Internet service providers let subscribers download unlimited in-house video but charge them to watch other platforms. Upstream tricks, designed to evade those rules, are also forbidden.
Court challenges are a dead certainty. But in theory, California’s net neutrality regime takes effect on New Year’s Day.