U.S. Attorneys General To Sue FCC Over Net Neutrality Vote

It didn’t take long after the Federal Communications Commission to cast its vote to repeal Net Neutrality for the lawsuits to come flying in. Attorneys General of New York Eric Schneiderman and of Washington Bob Ferguson have both announced that they would be filing multi-state lawsuits against the commission. Both officials are not happy with the thought of ISPs taking advantage of their constituents.

Despite the huge blow that Net Neutrality proponents suffered due to the FCC’s vote to repeal, the fight isn’t over yet. In the case of AG Ferguson, his office released a press release indicating a huge interest in fighting back against this decision.

"Today, I am announcing my intention to file a legal challenge to the FCC's decision to roll back net neutrality, along with attorneys general across the country," Ferguson said in the release. "We will be filing a petition for review in the coming days. Allowing Internet service providers to discriminate based on content undermines a free and open Internet. Today's action will seriously harm consumers, innovation, and small businesses."

AG Schneiderman expressed the same intent mere minutes after the vote, with the official saying that the repeal was a blow to New Yorkers and Americans, in general. That’s why he is intent on filing a multi-state lawsuit against the FCC.

"The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving Internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers. Today's rollback will give ISPs new ways to control what we see, what we do, and what we say online. That's a threat to the free exchange of ideas that's made the Internet a valuable asset in our democratic process," Schneiderman said.

This is just the start as well. The FCC is currently facing the threat of lawsuits from multiple states all over the country, which include Oregon, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, and of course, California. More are expected to join as events develop.