The California Senate has passed net neutrality legislation stricter than the federal rules in the US. The legislation must still be signed by the governor before it becomes law in the state.
The Senate vote of 27 for, 12 against came a day after the Assembly approved the draft legislation. Senator Scott Wiener, who co-authored the bill, said it was the "strongest net neutrality standards in the nation".
The bill was introduced after the FCC overturned much of the national net neutrality legislation passed under the previous administration, preferring to rely on consumer protection law. That move is being appealed in court by attroney generals from several US states as well as consumer groups.The California law prohibits blocking websites, speeding up or slowing down websites or whole classes of applications such as video. Internet service providers are prohibited from circumventing these protections at the point where data enters their networks and from charging access fees to reach their customers. It also bans paid prioritisation, prohibiting ISPs from offering zero-rated data for their own content.
