OTI Applauds DOJ For Dropping Net Neutrality Lawsuit

On Monday, the Department of Justice withdrew from U.S. v. California, a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn California’s 2018 net neutrality law. The lawsuit was initiated by the Trump administration, which repealed federal net neutrality rules in 2017. In October, OTI filed an amicus brief in the case. In November, OTI urged the incoming Biden administration to withdraw from this case as soon as possible. In January, members of Congress led by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) echoed OTI’s call to drop the lawsuit.

The following statement can be attributed to Joshua Stager, senior counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“We applaud the DOJ for dropping this harmful legal challenge. The Trump administration initiated the lawsuit as a frontal attack on both net neutrality and California’s right to protect consumers. The Biden administration must restore net neutrality, and dropping this case is a good start.

“In 2018, Sacramento legislators passed this law to ensure that Californians get the internet service they paid for without unreasonable interference from their internet provider. That law is needed now more than ever as millions of Californians rely on internet service to get through simultaneous public health, economic, and climate crises. The Department of Justice never should have stood in the way of this law.”