More than one month after the Federal Communications Commission voted to abolish net neutrality internet regulations, a number of states and lawmakers have attempted to push back.
The Obama-era net neutrality rules prohibit broadband companies from prioritizing or blocking some content over others. The regulations also prevent internet service providers from charging additional fees for select capabilities, such as high-quality streaming.
In a November proposal, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai suggested overturning the rules, which the agency voted to do one month later. The FCC posted its final version of the repeal — one that closely mirrored its draft proposal — at the beginning of January.
Here are 11 updates in the net neutrality saga.
1. So far, a group of 21 U.S. state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging the repeal, according to Reuters.
2. The attorneys' petition called the repeal "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion" that violated federal laws and regulations.
3. Some of the states include California, New York and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.
4. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced a bill to restore the internet regulations. His bill would use the Congressional Review Act to roll back the FCC's repeal, The Hill reports.
5. Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday the bill had 50 sponsors — including all 49 Senate Democrats and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
6. Democrats plan to force a vote in the coming months using procedural rules under the CRA.
7. A similar bill is circulating in the House. Introduced by Rep. Mike Doyla, D-Pa., the CRA companion bill has 82 co-sponsors as of Tuesday, but since CRA rules differ in the House, the lawmakers cannot force a vote.
8. Senate Democrats need 51 votes to win any proposal in the Republican-controlled Senate since Vice President Mike Pence can break a tie. And, since President Donald Trump backed the FCC's action, overturning a presidential veto would require at least two-thirds support from both legislative bodies.
9. According to Reuters, a trade group that represents tech companies — including Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon — vowed to support legal challenges to the reversal.
10. Mozilla, which makes the Firefox Web browser, also filed a lawsuit Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and requested a review of the FCC repeal, The Hill reports.
11. The FCC's vote has been considered a win for internet service providers — like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon — since it enables them to control what consumers can access by blocking or throttling certain content.
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