Pandemic Proves Internet Is 'Utility,' Says California Commissioner
Internet regulation has a good shot after COVID-19, said California Public Utilities Commission officials on a Santa Clara University (SCU) webinar. The virus shows the internet is a “basic utility” that “needs to be regulated,” said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves.…
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Also at Friday's event, Sen. Scott Wiener (D), author of California’s still-unenforced net neutrality law, rallied supporters to keep fighting despite litigation. Internet access is “going to be regulated,” predicted CPUC Assistant General Counsel Helen Mickiewicz, and “we are at a watershed moment.” Guzman Aceves, former aide to ex-Gov. Jerry Brown (D), said the CPUC is well-positioned. Former Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D) predicted carriers, with great sway in the legislature, will fight regulation, and he views COVID-19 as “a focusing event” that's a “chance for those of us who care to go to the legislature and push back on the ISPs.” It "could be a while” before California’s net neutrality law applies, Wiener said, answering our question. California agreed not to enforce the 2018 law amid litigation over the FCC repeal order. The lawmaker is glad the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the federal government may not be able to preempt state laws. His law remains on hold at least until early July, the deadline to appeal to the Supreme Court, noted SCU law professor Catherine Sandoval, a former CPUC commissioner. Net neutrality is "not as central in the public focus right now" with the issue tied up in the courts and the pandemic taking attention, "but we have to keep fighting,” said Wiener. "We're in a period where the internet is like a lifeline times 10.” Litigation between industry and the CPUC is probable, said agency attorneys.