News from Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 16, 2018

Attorney General’s Press Office / 212-416-8060

nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov

Twitter: @AGSchneiderman

A.G. SCHNEIDERMAN FILES SUIT TO STOP ILLEGAL ROLLBACK OF NET NEUTRALITY

AG Schneiderman Leads Coalition of 22 Attorneys General in Filing Petition for Review, Formally Commencing Lawsuit

Click Here for New Video from AG Schneiderman on the Lawsuit He’s Leading

NEW YORK – Today, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman led a coalition of 22 Attorneys General in filing a multistate lawsuit to block the Federal Communications Commission’s illegal rollback of net neutrality. The coalition filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, formally commencing the lawsuit against the FCC and the federal government.

“An open internet – and the free exchange of ideas it allows – is critical to our democratic process,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “The repeal of net neutrality would turn internet service providers into gatekeepers – allowing them to put profits over consumers while controlling what we see, what we do, and what we say online. This would be a disaster for New York consumers and businesses, and for everyone who cares about a free and open internet. That’s why I’m proud to lead this broad coalition of 22 Attorneys General in filing suit to stop the FCC’s illegal rollback of net neutrality.”

Click here to read the petition. The lawsuit is led by Attorney General Schneiderman, and filed by the Attorneys General of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

The repeal of net neutrality would have dire consequences for consumers and businesses in New York and across the country that rely on a free and open internet – allowing internet service providers to block certain content, charge consumers more to access certain sites, and throttle or slow the quality of content from content providers that don’t pay more.

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, the FCC cannot make “arbitrary and capricious” changes to existing policies, such as net neutrality. The FCC’s new rule fails to justify the Commission’s departure from its long-standing policy and practice of defending net neutrality, while misinterpreting and disregarding critical record evidence on industry practices and harm to consumers and businesses (which were detailed in Attorney General Schneiderman’s comments submitted last year). Moreover, the rule wrongly reclassifies broadband internet as a Title I information service, rather than a Title II telecommunications service, based on an erroneous and unreasonable interpretation of the Telecommunications Act. Finally, the rule improperly and unlawfully includes sweeping preemption of state and local laws.