Eustace Will Introduce Bill to Protect NJ Consumers from Net Neutrality Ruling, Calls Vote to Repeal Anti-Consumer

FCC decision dismantles Obama-era consumer protections

(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Tim Eustace condemned today’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission to repeal net neutrality rules, a move that dismantles consumer-protections put in place by the Obama administration to keep the Internet affordable and accessible.

“Everyone who uses the Internet should be concerned about how this will impact Internet access and affordability,” said Eustace (D-Bergen/Passaic). “The Republican-controlled FCC has sold out the American public. This is as anti-consumer as it gets.”

Eustace has already started working on a bill to help protect New Jersey consumers from the ramifications of this decision, and hopes to introduce it before this session ends. “When so much of our world revolves around the Internet, we cannot let this decision go unchallenged,” said Eustace.

The decision to overturn the Obama-era net neutrality regulations was made despite overwhelming opposition, and passed on a party-line vote.

A recent study conducted by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland found that 83 percent of people were against the repeal, including 75 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Democrats, and 86 percent of those who identified as Independent.

The repeal rolls back so-called “Title II” regulations that classified the internet as a public utility, and which, among other things, required internet service providers, or ISPs, to treat all of the data traveling on their networks equally, according to a media report. Without these protections, those ISPs can now legally begin treating data from some websites differently than others.