SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Demonstrators rally outside the Federal Communication Commission building to protest against the end of net neutrality rules December 14, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Nearly 20 State AGs to Sue FCC for Putting 'Corporate Profits Over Consumers'
FCC's vote to rip apart net neutrality challenged as blow to consumers and "everyone who cares about a free and open internet"
Dec 15, 2017
Adding to the growing backlash among the public and members of Congress against the FCC's party-line vote on Thursday to repeal net neutrality protections, nearly 20 state attorneys general have lined up to sue the FCC, calling the Republican-controlled agency's move a violation of the law and a serious "threat to the free exchange of ideas."
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access."
--Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General
"The FCC's vote to rip apart net neutrality is a blow to New York consumers, and to everyone who cares about a free and open internet," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman--who is also investigating the flood of fake comments that "corrupted" the agency's policymaking process--said in a statement announcing his intent to sue. "The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers."
Soon after Schneiderman's announcement on Thursday, more than a dozen other state AGs followed suit, with both red and blue states joining the public repudiation of FCC chair Ajit Pai's plan. The list of states planning to taking legal action against the FCC--which includes Mississippi, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, and Illinois--continued to grow almost by the hour late Thursday and into Friday.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, one of the first to join Schneiderman's planned multi-state suit, said in a statement that "Americans will pay more for the internet and will have fewer options" as a result of the FCC's move.
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access," Healey concluded.
In addition to legal challenges, states indicated they also plan to move quickly by enacting policy changes to override the FCC's attack on the open internet.
State lawmakers focused particularly on the FCC's attempt to not only kill net neutrality at the federal level, but also to prevent individual states and localities from enacting their own protections to preserve the open internet. Ahead of Thursday's vote, Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly vowed to be "vigilant in identifying and pursuing" states that attempt to uphold net neutrality.
California and Washington lawmakers have vowed to move ahead with legislation anyway. And, as Wired reports, "legal experts think there's a good chance that the FCC's rules barring states from making their own rules won't hold up in court."
"We don't think that the FCC has the power to stop states from enacting our own rules. In fact, the FCC has lost that argument in court before, so we're going to move forward," concluded California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, in an interview on Thursday. "I think we're going to have a lot of momentum."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Adding to the growing backlash among the public and members of Congress against the FCC's party-line vote on Thursday to repeal net neutrality protections, nearly 20 state attorneys general have lined up to sue the FCC, calling the Republican-controlled agency's move a violation of the law and a serious "threat to the free exchange of ideas."
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access."
--Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General
"The FCC's vote to rip apart net neutrality is a blow to New York consumers, and to everyone who cares about a free and open internet," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman--who is also investigating the flood of fake comments that "corrupted" the agency's policymaking process--said in a statement announcing his intent to sue. "The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers."
Soon after Schneiderman's announcement on Thursday, more than a dozen other state AGs followed suit, with both red and blue states joining the public repudiation of FCC chair Ajit Pai's plan. The list of states planning to taking legal action against the FCC--which includes Mississippi, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, and Illinois--continued to grow almost by the hour late Thursday and into Friday.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, one of the first to join Schneiderman's planned multi-state suit, said in a statement that "Americans will pay more for the internet and will have fewer options" as a result of the FCC's move.
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access," Healey concluded.
In addition to legal challenges, states indicated they also plan to move quickly by enacting policy changes to override the FCC's attack on the open internet.
State lawmakers focused particularly on the FCC's attempt to not only kill net neutrality at the federal level, but also to prevent individual states and localities from enacting their own protections to preserve the open internet. Ahead of Thursday's vote, Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly vowed to be "vigilant in identifying and pursuing" states that attempt to uphold net neutrality.
California and Washington lawmakers have vowed to move ahead with legislation anyway. And, as Wired reports, "legal experts think there's a good chance that the FCC's rules barring states from making their own rules won't hold up in court."
"We don't think that the FCC has the power to stop states from enacting our own rules. In fact, the FCC has lost that argument in court before, so we're going to move forward," concluded California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, in an interview on Thursday. "I think we're going to have a lot of momentum."
Adding to the growing backlash among the public and members of Congress against the FCC's party-line vote on Thursday to repeal net neutrality protections, nearly 20 state attorneys general have lined up to sue the FCC, calling the Republican-controlled agency's move a violation of the law and a serious "threat to the free exchange of ideas."
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access."
--Maura Healey, Massachusetts Attorney General
"The FCC's vote to rip apart net neutrality is a blow to New York consumers, and to everyone who cares about a free and open internet," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman--who is also investigating the flood of fake comments that "corrupted" the agency's policymaking process--said in a statement announcing his intent to sue. "The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers."
Soon after Schneiderman's announcement on Thursday, more than a dozen other state AGs followed suit, with both red and blue states joining the public repudiation of FCC chair Ajit Pai's plan. The list of states planning to taking legal action against the FCC--which includes Mississippi, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, and Illinois--continued to grow almost by the hour late Thursday and into Friday.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, one of the first to join Schneiderman's planned multi-state suit, said in a statement that "Americans will pay more for the internet and will have fewer options" as a result of the FCC's move.
"The agency has completely failed to justify this decision and we will be suing to stand up for the free exchange of ideas and to keep the American people in control of internet access," Healey concluded.
In addition to legal challenges, states indicated they also plan to move quickly by enacting policy changes to override the FCC's attack on the open internet.
State lawmakers focused particularly on the FCC's attempt to not only kill net neutrality at the federal level, but also to prevent individual states and localities from enacting their own protections to preserve the open internet. Ahead of Thursday's vote, Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly vowed to be "vigilant in identifying and pursuing" states that attempt to uphold net neutrality.
California and Washington lawmakers have vowed to move ahead with legislation anyway. And, as Wired reports, "legal experts think there's a good chance that the FCC's rules barring states from making their own rules won't hold up in court."
"We don't think that the FCC has the power to stop states from enacting our own rules. In fact, the FCC has lost that argument in court before, so we're going to move forward," concluded California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, in an interview on Thursday. "I think we're going to have a lot of momentum."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.