In a couple of weeks, the net neutrality rules put into place during the Obama administration will be repealed. This decision was made by the FCC a couple of months ago and it is expected to come into effect on the 23rd of April, save for any last ditch efforts at preventing that from happening.
However various states have been working to counteract this by introducing their own net neutrality rules and over in the state of Oregon, its governor Kate Brown will be signing the bill that will bring statewide net neutrality into law. The bill had some help by three middle school students, Luca, Lola, and Athena, who testified before the Oregon House Committee on Rules where they announced their support of the bill. This helped the bill gain more attention before it was voted through.
According to Gov. Brown, “When the federal government repealed net neutrality, they took a step backward. In Oregon, we want to move forward, to make sure that the internet is a level playing field, instead of exacerbating economic disparity.” Unfortunately it seems that it isn’t as simple as passing the law.
As ArsTechnica points out, there is a good chance that ISPs will sue in order to strike down the new law, which means that it might be tough to enforce them even if it has been signed into a law. However we suppose only time will tell if stateside implementation of the rules will be enough.
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