Just when we all thought Net Neutrality was done and over with there seems to be a last effort to try and prevent the June 11th, 2018 shut off date. There is no question that this topic has gone from a what’s good for consumers vs business to a straight up political jungle. Some believe that this will end up becoming a mid-term election platform topic which honestly is the last place anyone really wants to hear about it.
There are individual states like New Jersey and California that are trying to enact laws at the state level to keep the Net Neutrality rules in place locally, however most believe the individual state’s efforts to pass laws on the topic will largely be unenforceable and as a result be a waste of time.
What looked promising was the US Senate just passed a bill 2 weeks ago to keep things alive which was surprising as some Republican Senators jumped on board with what was a largely Democratic party bill. That bill now must go to the House which most believe it will die there and not pass. Who knows what will happen but lets face it, this is the most positive movement anyone has seen. There is still time for the House to possibly get something going but June 11th is literally around the corner which makes things not so exciting.
There are multiple lawsuits currently making their way through the Federal government that are expected to hit trial as soon as this summer. Individual states seem to be trying to handle things also by contract terms where any public contracts with broadband or internet providers would stipulate that telecom companies follow the Net Neutrality rules to quality.
All-in-all we were of the opinion the battle for Net Neutrality was done and over with. It seems like there is still some spark left and with some luck it may still pop back up. In the meantime, I would expect that the internet providers are prepped to make some noticeable changes after June. Maybe some will wait until some of these other things get sorted like the outstanding Federal lawsuits...maybe not.