Free Republic

The European Union’s highest court has given its support to the bloc’s rules that stop internet providers from charging customers for preferential access to their networks. […] The rules require telecommunications providers to treat all data traffic the same, and prevent them from reserving better access for their own services, or selling bandwidth to big companies like Google and Netflix while leaving a slower Internet for everyone else. The Luxembourg-based court backed the principle of an open internet after Hungarian wireless carrier Telenor Magyarorszag had sought an interpretation of the rules. Hungarian regulators had stopped the company from offering two...

A net neutrality bill that would prohibit internet providers from a host of discriminatory practices cleared the California Assembly on Thursday, setting up a potential showdown with the Trump administration over the rules of the road for the internet. The legislation, which passed in a 59-18 vote, will now go to the Senate, where a vote is expected next week. It would then go to Governor Jerry Brown. California is also the largest state to pass net neutrality legislation in response to the Republican-led FCC’s move late last year to dismantle many of the existing rules. Democrats have seized on...