Hawaii is the Latest State to Pass Net Neutrality Rules

Hawaii is the fourth state to sign an executive order banning the state from doing business with ISPs that violate net neutrality. Hawaii Governor David Ige says the executive order updates state procurement policies to prohibit ISPs winning state contracts if they engage in anti-competitive throttling, paid prioritization, website blocking, or other bad behaviors. Like similar executive orders signed in New York, Montana and New Jersey, Hawaii's order carves out exceptions for "reasonable network management" like giving essential health services prioritization.

"An open internet is critically important to our people and our economy, connecting us to the rest of the world, increasing our commerce, fostering innovation, and adding to our economic growth," Ige said in a statement. "I have worked with my cabinet members, members of the House, and other stakeholders to protect the integrity of this critical resource."

Hawaii is one of four states pursuing executive orders, while numerous additional states are considering net neutrality legislation. Large ISPs like Comcast have complained the efforts create a patchwork of inconsistent regulations it has to comply with, but large ISPs likely should have considered this more carefully before they lobbied to repeal arguably modest and very popular federal rules.

The FCC, at Comcast and Verizon lobbying behest, included pre-emption language in their net neutrality repeal that attempts to block states from protecting consumers. So not only will the FCC face a legal battle on that front, 23 states attorneys general are also suing the agency for ignoring the good of the public and rushing toward repeal.

The FCC also faces a law enforcement investigation into who engaged in fraud and identity theft during the open comment period, purportedly to try and downplay massive public opposition to the plan. The GAO is also investigating the FCC's role in both ignoring the fraudulent comments, in addition to the agency's claims of a seemingly fake DDOS during the proceeding.

That's all in addition to the numerous lawsuits that are being filed by competitors and consumer advocates. All of which could have been avoided if FCC boss Ajit Pai had simply listened to the public and left the arguably modest (by international standards) rules in place.