Net Neutrality: States Slam ‘Capricious’ FCC in New Court Brief (AVN)

Read the full article by Michael French at avn.com

The attorneys general from 22 states as well as the District of Columbia on Monday filed a brief in the D.C. federal appeals court, pressing the court to throw out the December Federal Communications Commission ruling that ditched Obama-era net neutrality rules.

In the court brief, the states—led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood—blasted the FCC’s decision as “devastating” for “millions of Americans” and an “arbitrary and capricious ... abdication of regulatory authority.”

“A free and open internet is critical to New York—and to our democracy,” said Underwood in a prepared statement. “By repealing net neutrality, the FCC is allowing internet service providers to put their profits before consumers while controlling what we see, do, and say online.”

Under net neutrality rules, internet service providers are banned from slowing down or blocking internet traffic to some sites while granting others access to an online “fast lane,” as well as other forms on unequal treatment of internet data.