Today, the FCC’s order to overturn previous net neutrality protections was officially published in the Federal Register. Soon after being published, it appears that attorneys general from 23 states filed a lawsuit to challenge the FCC’s order.
The group of attorneys general filed a lawsuit earlier this year, but then agreed last week to withdraw it until the FCC published its order in the Federal Register, Reuters reports.
“Today, the FCC made official its illegal rollback of net neutrality — and, as promised, our coalition of attorneys general is filing suit,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “Consumers and businesses in New York and across the country have the right to a free and open internet, and our coalition of attorneys general won’t stop fighting to protect that right.”
While the FCC has submitted its order and the repeal is set to go into effect on April 23rd, this doesn’t mean all is lost. Other efforts aimed at blocking the decision include a Senate challenge to the order that is current one vote short. In addition, there’s a Day of Action aimed at convincing one more Senator to join the cause and reverse what FCC has done.
So far, New York, New Jersey and Montana have enacted their own net neutrality policies aimed at encouraging ISPs to uphold the values of net neutrality. Now that the FCC has submitted its order to the Federal Register, legislators have 60 days to overturn the decision and restore net neutrality regulations.
