In December, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal net neutrality rules, but now California lawmakers have two proposals to reinstate the protections.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill that would give power to the California Public Utilities Commission to make net neutrality rules and give the attorney general enforcement authority. The parallel bill from state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is still being workshopped, but in broad terms, it would make companies follow net neutrality rules in order to get state contracts, to participate in cable franchise agreements and to service broadband wireless communications on utility poles.
Should California try to bring back net neutrality rules despite the Federal policy? What would be the best approach to make that happen? What is the pushback from the telecom industry, and if passed, how would these state rules affect the internet in the rest of the U.S.?
Guests:
Ernesto Falcon, legislative counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation; he tweets
Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom, a tech policy think tank based D.C.; he tweets