9th Circuit: Calif. Net Neutrality Law Not Preempted

California’s net neutrality law survived an appeal by ISP associations at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit panel agreed with the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, which last February denied a preliminary injunction against California’s 2018 law. ACA Connects, CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom last March appealed in case 21-15430.

“Only the invocation of federal regulatory authority can preempt state regulatory authority,” Judge Mary Schroeder wrote in a Friday opinion. “As the D.C. Circuit held in Mozilla, by classifying broadband internet services as information services, the FCC no longer has the authority to regulate in the same manner that it had when these services were classified as telecommunications services.” Judge Danielle Forrest joined the opinion and Judge Clifford Wallace concurred.

Also, the California law doesn’t conflict with the Communications Act, which only limits FCC regulatory authority, and ISPs’ field preemption argument is foreclosed by case law and the Act, the court said.

The decision drew applause from Public Knowledge and the Benton Institute. California and the ISP groups didn’t comment right away.