California Senate defies AT&T, votes for strict net neutrality rules

Enlarge / Net neutrality supporter protests the FCC's repeal outside a federal building in Los Angeles, California on November 28, 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Ronen Tivony | NurPhoto)

The California State Senate today approved net neutrality rules that are even stricter than the federal regulations they're meant to replace.

The California bill would replicate the US-wide bans on blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization that were implemented by the FCC in 2015, and it would go beyond the FCC rules with a ban on paid data-cap exemptions. California is one of several states trying to impose state-level net neutrality rules because the FCC's Republican leadership decided to eliminate the federal rules effective June 11.

The California Senate passed the bill by a vote of 23-12, with all 23 aye votes coming from Democrats and all 12 noes coming from Republicans. To become law in California, the bill also needs approval from the Democratic-majority State Assembly and Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat.

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