22 states and DC are suing the FCC in last-ditch effort to preserve net neutrality

Mike Snider | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Allow Burger King's new ad to explain net neutrality to you A new Burger King ad is trying to teach customers about net neutrality, using Whoppers to criticize the recent repeal of regulations that proponents said ensured equal access to the Internet.

The days are now truly numbered for the federal regulations that prevent Internet service providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing content on their broadband networks.

And for the groups who want those Net-neutrality rules to stay, the race is on.

Two months ago, the Federal Communications Commission repealed rules that prevented Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or slowing legal content. In their place, the agency passed lighter rules that require cable and telecom companies to disclose any slowing as well as prioritization of their own content or that of their partners, with the idea that consumer pressure would force ISPs to play fair.

But the new rules — backed by cable and telecom companies — do not officially go into effect until 60 days after the regulations appear in the Federal Register, which happened Thursday.

That means proponents of the older, stronger so-called Net-neutrality rules, which include several state attorneys general and coalitions of tech companies, have about two months to prevent the new regulations from going into effect in April.

More: Net neutrality: The FCC voted to end it. What that means for you

More: FCC overturns net neutrality rules, but supporters pledge to continue fight

ISPs such as AT&T and Comcast have said they won't block or throttle legal websites, though some have left open the option of charging more for some content.

Regardless, several initiatives are underway in Congress and at state and local governmental levels to reinstate the 2015 Net-neutrality rules, supported by President Obama and passed by a Democrat-led FCC. Those regulations also prohibited ISPs from charging content providers for "fast lanes" that more quickly deliver content.

At the top of Net-neutrality supporters' wish list: passage of a Congressional Review Act measure to reinstate the original rules. The 1996 CRA lets Congress pass a resolution blocking a rule enacted by a federal agency if it acts within 60 days of notification (via the Federal Register).

A vote on such a resolution is highly unlikely as it requires Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, both Republicans, to schedule a vote.

To drum up public support for a vote, Sens. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., will host a press event Tuesday as part of a planned Net Neutrality National Day of Action. They will be joined by representatives from several pro-Net-neutrality consumer groups.

Markey has 50 supporters in the Senate: 47 Democrats, Independents Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) and Republican Susan Collins (Maine). In the House, Doyle has 143 Democratic co-sponsors for a measure.

“Nobody should be able to influence what videos you watch, which sites you read and which services you use, but the Trump FCC’s action will take that decision away from all of us, jeopardizing free speech and small business innovation," said Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., in a statement. "The fight officially begins today to protect the free and open internet.”

In February 2015, when the FCC passed the Open Internet order, drafted to enforce Net-neutrality rules, then-Chairman Tom Wheeler said the measure was needed because "broadband providers have both the economic incentive and the technological capability to abuse their gatekeeper position."

But current Chairman Ajit Pai, who voted against the rules in 2015, considered them intrusive, unneeded burden on ISPs. His proposal, passed in December and now published, eased the protections and overturned the 2015 rules' reliance on Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 allowing the agency to oversee ISPs as if they are utilities or "common carriers" like the traditional landline phone system.

Those who consider these new regulations too lax are looking beyond Congress for remedies. State officials, tech companies and consumer advocacy groups have taken their own actions to overturn them.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, joined by 22 other states, officially filed a suit federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging the FCC's new rules. In December, Schneiderman said he would take such action and in January announced he had nearly two dozen other states joining him in the suit.

The @FCC may have made its illegal rollback of #netneutrality official, but this fight is just getting started.



Our coalition of 23 AGs just officially filed suit to protect the free and open internet. #SaveTheInternet https://t.co/uqznZsiUps pic.twitter.com/dGQEZlgsfc — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) February 22, 2018

Several governors, one of the latest being Republican Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, have signed executive orders requiring the states only do business with ISPs that uphold the 2015 rules' standards.

More than half of the states have introduced legislation preventing ISPs from blocking and prioritizing content. Many mayors voiced opposition to an overturning of the 2015 rules, too. "Local politicians are reading their coffee grounds and checking recent public polls, which show overwhelming bipartisan support for Net neutrality," said Timothy Carr, senior director of strategy and communications at Free Press, a consumer advocacy group, in a national look at the issue.

Last week, Oregon became one of 26 states to introduce #NetNeutrality legislation. If you're an Oregonian, voice your approvalhttps://t.co/m5WKUBe0QB — EFF (@EFF) February 19, 2018

Free Press also filed one of several preliminary lawsuits challenging the FCC's overturning of the 2015 rules. Now it and other parties including Mozilla, maker of Firefox browser, have begun re-filing their legal briefs with the new rules' official publication.

Whether the states can be legally successful with their challenges remains to be seen, says Brent Skorup, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. But state attorneys general, along with the Federal Trade Commission, provide plenty of consumer protections under the new regulations, he says.

"This is a conflict of vision about the state and what the FCC should do. I expect the broad debate will continue," he said. "It might not be called Net neutrality, but (it will address) what role should government have in this powerful new medium of the Internet."

Still, a majority of Americans favor rules preventing ISPs from blocking content according to a nationally-representative survey conducted in September 2017 by Consumers Union, which supports a restoration of the 2015 rules. More than half (57%) supported the Net-neutrality rules, and 67% disagreed that providers should be able to choose what content customers can access.

Now that the rules have been published, said Consumers Union senior policy counsel Jonathan Schwantes, "we urge senators to listen to the consumers they represent and vote to restore these critical Net-neutrality rules to ensure that Internet service providers aren’t the gatekeepers to the Internet.”

More: Net neutrality rules threaten to rewind the Internet back to 2014. Is that possible?

Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.