Pandemic Proves Internet Is 'Utility,' Says California Commissioner
Internet regulation has a good shot following the COVID-19 pandemic, said California Public Utilities Commission officials Friday on a Santa Clara University High Tech Law Institute webinar. The virus forcing people to stay at home shows the internet is a “basic utility” that “needs to be regulated,” said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. Sen. Scott Wiener (D), author of California’s still-unenforced net neutrality law, rallied supporters to keep fighting despite litigation.
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Internet access is “going to be regulated,” predicted CPUC Assistant General Counsel Helen Mickiewicz, saying the virus means “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. Wiener is “terrified of anything going to the Supreme Court” after watching the conservative-leaning body deny Wisconsin residents more time this month to mail in primary ballots during the pandemic. His law remains on hold at least until early July, the deadline to appeal to the Supreme Court that was extended due to COVID-19, noted Santa Clara University law professor Catherine Sandoval, former CPUC commissioner.
Net neutrality is "not as central in the public focus right now" with the issue tied up in the courts and COVID-19 taking attention, "but we have to keep fighting,” said Wiener. "We're in a period where the internet is like a lifeline times 10.” Access is needed for teleworking, remote learning, telehealth and for getting prompt virus information, he said.
The FCC reclassifying broadband as Title I could impede critical California public safety regulations meant to protect consumers affected by wildfires and power shutoffs, said CPUC Public Utilities Counsel Kimberly Lippi. Carriers are opposing efforts to impose disaster rules because they say states are preempted from regulating Telecom Act Title I information services, so the agency must rely on “voluntary actions and pledges,” she said.
Litigation between industry and the CPUC is probable, said the CPUC attorneys. Tying regulations to police power and public health and safety gives states a strong case, said Lippi. States have authority over wireless service terms and conditions but not rates or market entry, said Mickiewicz. “Wireless carriers like to characterize everything as a rate issue or an entry issue,” she said. “To say it’s a gray area is an understatement.”