Montana to FCC: You can’t stop us from protecting net neutrality

Enlarge (credit: Martin Abegglen)

The Montana governor's office has a message for the Federal Communications Commission and Internet service providers: the state can't be stopped from protecting net neutrality, and ISPs that don't like it don't have to do business with state agencies.

Governor Steve Bullock signed an executive order to protect net neutrality on Monday, as we reported at the time. But with questions raised about whether Bullock is exceeding his authority, the governor's legal office prepared a fact sheet that it's distributing to anyone curious about potential legal challenges to the executive order.

ISPs are free to violate net neutrality if they only serve non-government customers-they just can't do so and expect to receive state contracts. "Companies that don't like it don't have to do business with the State-nothing stops ISPs from selling dumpy Internet plans in Montana if they insist," the fact sheet says.

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