Iowa AG: Net neutrality is 'Magna Carta' of the internet

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller joined 20 other states Tuesday in an effort to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's recent repeal of net neutrality regulations.

The petition to begin the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, which Miller described as "the most powerful court in the country other than the Supreme Court."

Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers like Mediacom, Comcast and Verizon should give consumers equal access to content without slowing down, favoring or blocking some sources. The FCC codified the concept in 2015 with a 3-2 vote.

But after a change of leadership on the FCC, the panel in December 2017 reversed that decision, arguing that net neutrality could hamper technological innovation.

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Tuesday's three-page filing does not detail the states' case, but Miller provided a basic outline to reporters in his office Tuesday afternoon.

"You can't discriminate against those using the internet. You can't discriminate against those that are providing content on the internet," Miller said. "It's, like I say, sort of a cardinal principle or the Magna Carta of fairness on the internet."

The 21 states and the District of Columbia will argue in later filings that the FCC disregarded comments and objections from the public, incorrectly classified the internet and acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner, Miller said. The multi-state effort is led by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.

"What was done three years ago was something that was fundamentally right. What is being done now is something that's fundamentally wrong," Miller said. "The internet has become just so important to Americans in so many ways."

Some proponents of the deregulation have argued that competition among providers will prevent companies from slowing down speeds or raising prices on customers. But Miller said that argument falls flat in many parts of rural Iowa that already lack basic high-speed internet.

"There's one service provider in many parts of the country including Iowa. In Iowa in some cases, there's no major broadband carrier at all," the attorney general said. "So competition really does not solve this problem and didn't solve it pre-2015."

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He batted down another frequent argument in favor of repeal: the idea that consumer outrage would ensure providers don't over step.

"Who are they trying to kid when they say that if a corporation has power and can use that power and can make more money, that if consumers object, they're going to stop using that power?" he said. "That's ridiculous."

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds appeared to disagree with Miller's action on Thursday. Miller, a Democrat, was reelected to the statewide office in 2014.

"The internet grew and thrived before net neutrality was put in place in 2015, and the governor believes that it will continue to grow and thrive after the FCC’s decision to eliminate the rule," Reynolds spokeswoman Brenna Smith said in a statement. "Greater government control of an industry isn’t usually a recipe for innovation."