California sued over Net neutrality law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the nation’s toughest Net neutrality measure Sunday, requiring Internet providers to maintain a level playing field online. The move prompted an immediate lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Advocates of Net neutrality hope the new law in the home of the global technology industry will have national implications by pushing Congress to enact national Net neutrality rules or encouraging other states to follow suit.

But the U.S. Department of Justice wants to stop the law, arguing that it creates burdensome, anti-consumer requirements that go against the federal government’s approach of deregulating the Internet.

“Once again the California Legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The law is the latest example of the nation’s most populous state seeking to drive public policy outside its borders and rebuff Trump’s agenda.

Brown did not explain his reasons for signing the bill or comment on the federal lawsuit Sunday night.

Supporters of the new law cheered it as a win for Internet freedom. It is set to take effect Jan. 1.

“This is a historic day for California. A free and open Internet is a cornerstone of 21st century life: our democracy, our economy, our health care and public safety systems, and dayto-day activities,” said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, the law’s author.

The Federal Communications Commission last year repealed rules that prevented Internet companies from exercising more control over what people watch and see on the Internet.

The new law prohibits Internet providers from blocking or slowing data based on content or from favoring websites or video streams from companies that pay extra.

Information for this article was contributed by Eric Tucker, Mike Balsamo and Kathleen Ronayne of The Associated Press.