Judge Won't Block California Net Neutrality Law

A federal judge denied preliminary injunction for ISP associations against California’s net neutrality law at a teleconferenced Tuesday hearing at the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. The comments came following industry and government arguments. See our news report here.

"I don't find that the plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits at this stage of the litigation," said Judge John Mendez, ruling from the bench. Sections 151 and 152 of the Communications Act don't clearly preempt states, the jurist said. The FCC’s 2018 order said the federal agency can’t regulate, but it wasn’t an affirmative act of deregulation that would preempt states, he said. There's no irreparable harm to ISPs, he added.

ISP associations ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom brought the challenge against California in case 2:18-cv-02684. Legal and other representatives for those groups didn't immediately comment.