As expected, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed suit to block what he called the FCC’s “arbitrary and capricious” rollback of Obama-era network neutrality regulations. And Schneiderman is bringing 21 other state AGs along with him into court against Ajit Pai’s FCC.
#BREAKING: I’m leading 22 AGs and filing suit today to stop the @FCC’s illegal rollback of #netneutrality.
We can’t stand by and watch one of the greatest tools for democracy ever created be turned into a private playground for the rich and powerful. https://t.co/BUXSVVVMcs pic.twitter.com/xDTbE1uIrM
— Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) January 16, 2018
Schneiderman and company filed papers with the U.S. Court Appeals in the District of Columbia Tuesday, just over a month after the FCC’s vote to repeal net neutrality principals brought in under ex-chair Tom Wheeler.
Today’s news comes as the drums of war against FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s highly partisan repeal are growing louder in Congress. Democrats in the Senate are a vote away from having enough sponsors for a vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the FCC’s repeal. In the House, pro-net neutrality forces have 83 sponsors and will be pushing hard for more; they’ll need a simple majority to force a vote, so they’ll need win over some Republicans.