N.Y., Calif. in push for neutral net

ALBANY — State legislators from New York and California are working on a bicoastal bill to protect consumers after last week’s repeal of the net neutrality rules by the Federal Communications Commission, the Daily News has learned.

Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) and California Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) say the repeal of the regulations barring internet service providers from blocking or slowing web traffic will hit their states particularly hard.

“It important because both California and New York have a lot of consumers and we have a lot of tech companies,” said Hoylman, whose district includes New York City offices for Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Hoylman and Weiner are writing legislation they expect to introduce in January to establish for the first time net neutrality regulations in New York and California.

Net neutrality is “essential to our 21st century democracy, and we need to be sure that people can access websites and information freely and fairly,” Weiner said.

“States like California and New York must step in and ensure open internet access for their citizens.”

One big issue to overcome is federal preemption. Since the internet is available across the nation, it would be difficult for one or two states to impose its own regulations on the industry.

Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor credited with coining the term “net neutrality,” said he expects a legal fight from the feds if the bills are passed, but believes the states could overcome this obstacle.

“There’s no straightforward answer,” Wu said.

The FCC will say it has jurisdiction, but New York is on strong ground arguing it has the right to protect its consumers and tech companies to ensure they can reach the entire internet, he said.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced almost immediately after the FCC vote to repeal federal net neutrality rules that he would sue to block the action.

Congressional Democrats also have talked about federal legislative efforts to restore net neutrality, which was established in 2015 by the FCC under President Barack Obama. is