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
"No surprise here. These companies will stop at nothing to destroy net neutrality for good," Fight for the Future declared in a tweet on Wednesday. (Photo: Political Dig)
Showing They Will 'Stop at Nothing to Destroy' Open Internet, Telecom Giants Sue to Block California's New Net Neutrality Law
"Big telecom companies hate the California net neutrality bill because it prevents them from screwing over their customers more than they already do."
Oct 03, 2018
Making abundantly clear that they will "stop at nothing to destroy net neutrality for good," four telecom lobbying groups representing the nation's most powerful internet providers and cable companies sued California on Wednesday to stop the state's gold standard open internet legislation from taking effect.
"It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation."
--Evan Greer, Fight for the Future
"Big telecom companies hate the California net neutrality bill because it prevents them from screwing over their customers more than they already do," Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement. "It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support."
"No one wants their cable company to be able to charge extra fees or control what websites they visit and what apps they use," Greer added.
Incensed by SB 822's strong protections against throttling and exorbitant fees, the industry groups behind the lawsuit argued in a statement that the "nation's broadband providers are the innovation engine of America's digital economy" and attacked California's widely praised bill as "a classic example of unconstitutional state regulation."
While massive telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T frequently claim to support net neutrality, these corporate behemoths have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past several years attempting to kill open internet protections and stand to reap enormous profits from the Republican-controlled FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules last December.
With its suit against California, Big Telecom joined President Donald Trump's Justice Department in taking legal action to undercut any state efforts to establish their own net neutrality protections to fill the regulatory void left by the FCC.
Filed just hours after Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 822 into law on Sunday, the Justice Department's lawsuit was immediately denounced by open internet advocates as "unfortunate and hypocritical in the extreme."
As Greer of Fight for the Future noted on Wednesday, the lawsuits by the Trump administration and Big Telecom "underscore the fact that Congress needs to do its job and pass the resolution to reverse the FCC's repeal. Until that happens, we'll fight to defend the California law, and push for other states to follow suit."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. 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. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Making abundantly clear that they will "stop at nothing to destroy net neutrality for good," four telecom lobbying groups representing the nation's most powerful internet providers and cable companies sued California on Wednesday to stop the state's gold standard open internet legislation from taking effect.
"It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation."
--Evan Greer, Fight for the Future
"Big telecom companies hate the California net neutrality bill because it prevents them from screwing over their customers more than they already do," Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement. "It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support."
"No one wants their cable company to be able to charge extra fees or control what websites they visit and what apps they use," Greer added.
Incensed by SB 822's strong protections against throttling and exorbitant fees, the industry groups behind the lawsuit argued in a statement that the "nation's broadband providers are the innovation engine of America's digital economy" and attacked California's widely praised bill as "a classic example of unconstitutional state regulation."
While massive telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T frequently claim to support net neutrality, these corporate behemoths have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past several years attempting to kill open internet protections and stand to reap enormous profits from the Republican-controlled FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules last December.
With its suit against California, Big Telecom joined President Donald Trump's Justice Department in taking legal action to undercut any state efforts to establish their own net neutrality protections to fill the regulatory void left by the FCC.
Filed just hours after Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 822 into law on Sunday, the Justice Department's lawsuit was immediately denounced by open internet advocates as "unfortunate and hypocritical in the extreme."
As Greer of Fight for the Future noted on Wednesday, the lawsuits by the Trump administration and Big Telecom "underscore the fact that Congress needs to do its job and pass the resolution to reverse the FCC's repeal. Until that happens, we'll fight to defend the California law, and push for other states to follow suit."
Making abundantly clear that they will "stop at nothing to destroy net neutrality for good," four telecom lobbying groups representing the nation's most powerful internet providers and cable companies sued California on Wednesday to stop the state's gold standard open internet legislation from taking effect.
"It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation."
--Evan Greer, Fight for the Future
"Big telecom companies hate the California net neutrality bill because it prevents them from screwing over their customers more than they already do," Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future, said in a statement. "It's no surprise that they're suing, but it does make it even more blatant and clear that Jeff Sessions and Ajit Pai are working directly on behalf of Big Cable in trying to block basic consumer protection legislation that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support."
"No one wants their cable company to be able to charge extra fees or control what websites they visit and what apps they use," Greer added.
Incensed by SB 822's strong protections against throttling and exorbitant fees, the industry groups behind the lawsuit argued in a statement that the "nation's broadband providers are the innovation engine of America's digital economy" and attacked California's widely praised bill as "a classic example of unconstitutional state regulation."
While massive telecom companies like Verizon and AT&T frequently claim to support net neutrality, these corporate behemoths have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past several years attempting to kill open internet protections and stand to reap enormous profits from the Republican-controlled FCC's repeal of net neutrality rules last December.
With its suit against California, Big Telecom joined President Donald Trump's Justice Department in taking legal action to undercut any state efforts to establish their own net neutrality protections to fill the regulatory void left by the FCC.
Filed just hours after Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 822 into law on Sunday, the Justice Department's lawsuit was immediately denounced by open internet advocates as "unfortunate and hypocritical in the extreme."
As Greer of Fight for the Future noted on Wednesday, the lawsuits by the Trump administration and Big Telecom "underscore the fact that Congress needs to do its job and pass the resolution to reverse the FCC's repeal. Until that happens, we'll fight to defend the California law, and push for other states to follow suit."
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.